


The Loneliness Ends and a New Life Begins

by SathTrash



Series: Loneliness Ends [1]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: And I as the author pretend that they are functionally similar, Crew as Family, F/M, Fake AH Crew, Female Jack Pattillo, Gavin knows BSL, Geoff's a bit of a shit, Heist, Mild Gore, Mild Transphobia, Murder, Nurse Jack, Other, Ryan knows ASL, Selectively Mute Character, Sign Language, Trans Character, Wedding Fluff, Weddings, criminal activity, getting the gang together, graphic depictions of injury, improper binding, mute character, mutism due to trauma, selective mutism, trans boy Michael, traumatized vagabond, vague descriptions of injuries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-03
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-01-28 23:23:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 54,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12617880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SathTrash/pseuds/SathTrash
Summary: Over the course of months and years Jack Pattillo slowly gathers a rag tag band of boy and, mostly by accident, creates the Fake AH Crew, Los Santos' most notorious gang





	1. Geoff

**Author's Note:**

> It's finally happening! This story is based on a headcanon series I posted over on my tumblr (sathtrash) about a year and a half ago now, and I'm finally getting around to actually writing and posting a full story about it. If you came over from tumblr because you like my headcanons, please enjoy, and if you found this randomly, Hi, I'm a big fucking sap and I love this AU.
> 
> The name of this fic was suggested to me via an anonymous message on tumblr, it's a lyric from Stevin Curtis Chapman's song 'When Love Takes You In'

Jack was working late. Again. She nearly always worked the night shift at the ER, so many of her nurse friends had families to go home to, little kids to tuck into bed, spouses to wish goodnight, she would far rather work the graveyard shift at the Los Santos General ER than sit in her one bedroom apartment by herself anyhow, that was just depressing, frankly. It wasn’t like she was in alone either, there were a few other nurses milling around somewhere throughout the ER, she knew Annie was back dozing in the on-call break room, and Nina was with a mom who had come in with a young toddler with a fever far too high for the child, and Julien was with her manning the check-in desk at the front of the ER for the time being, but she wasn’t sure where the others were, just that they were around somewhere.

She glanced around the waiting room, it was mostly empty, surprisingly enough, save for a few people here and there, waiting for news on friends or family who they had rushed in. It was a quiet enough night that she actually found herself pausing to watch the TV on the opposite wall. It was on a local news station that had 24-hour coverage, and they were re-running a story from earlier that night, rehashing the details.

 

**LOS SANTOS BANK ROBBED BY ARMED MAN, HE WAS SEEN FLEEING FROM POLICE IN A GRAY SWEATSHIRT, BLACK JEANS, AND A GRAY BALACLAVA. HE FLED FROM THE SCENE BY JUMPING THROUGH A SECOND STORY WINDOW AND SEEMINGLY HAS A BROKEN ANKLE AND IS LIKELY SEEKING MEDICAL ATTENTION. IF FOUND PLEASE CONTACT THE LOS SANTOS POLICE DEPARTMENT WITH ANY INFORMATION**

 

Just as the news anchor was telling the viewers what number they should call to report the man, he strolled into LS general, dragging his right foot behind himself. His army green t-shirt was smattered with rips and smeared with blood, obviously from crashing through the window on his way down, but he looked jovial despite the deep cuts on his face and arms as he approached Jack at the desk.

“What seems to be the problem sir?” she asked, eyebrow raised.

“Got into a little accident tonight, just need a hand with this ankle and I’ll be on my way” the man shrugged, giving Jack a shit-eating grin.

“Looks like you need a hand with more than just your ankle” Jack smiled right back and walked out from behind the counter. She strode to the wall opposite her side of the check-in desk and pulled a closet door open and pulled a wheelchair from inside. “From what I can tell your ankle’s the worst of it, so you sit down and I’ll wheel you to an examination room.” She said simply, her tone left no room for negotiation. The man simply shrugged and rubbed a hand over his almost-beard before limping his way to the chair and throwing himself down into it.

“Do whatever it is you gotta do sweetheart” he said, grinning. Jack just rolled her eyes and wheeled him back to one of the examination rooms. She couldn’t help feeling a little thrill in the pit of her stomach knowing she wouldn’t be tipping off the police. She had worked with some of the gangs in the area, her nursing skills and no-nonsense nature had earned her respect in the Los Santos underground. All she wanted was to help people, but the hospital didn’t pay her very well for the long hours she put in, sometimes she would work nearly 45 hours over the course of three days and still she struggled with her rent, if it weren’t for helping out gangs on the side she’d have been homeless months ago, LS was far too expensive a city for a single person.

Once inside the private examination room she shut the door softly behind them and moved the man onto the examination table before she bustled over to a cupboard and pulled on a set of sterilized gloves.

“You wanna tell me how you got into this shape, or do I have to guess?” She asked, eyebrow raised, as she approached him with a handful of butterfly band-aids and peroxide.

“Not sure you’d believe me if I told ya” He said, the smirk was still on his lips, a lazy sort of half smile that paired sweetly with tired, heavy lidded eyes, and a barely there dark-brown beard, just barely past the stages of five o’clock shadow.

“Try me, I’ve heard a lot of crazy things in my time. I doubt this’ll be much different” she said, giving him a knowing look “Besides, it’s nothing the news hasn’t told me” her tone was nonchalant as she lightly patted a peroxide soaked cotton ball into a large open cut on his cheekbone. He flinched a bit, but she couldn’t tell if it was from the sting of the peroxide or her comment.

“Well you got me there” he said finally, she glanced up from her work to find him still smiling “You gonna call the cops on me? They’ve been trying to pin a hell of a lot on me, it’d be a shame to go to jail so young”

“What kind of bitch do you take me for?” she laughed and shook her head at him, pressing a butterfly bandage to the cut she had just disinfected “You think I’m going to report you? They’re not even offering a reward, turning you in is hardly worth the trouble it’ll cause me and the stress it’ll put on my ER” she pushed her glasses up her nose and grinned at him “Besides, I doubt you’ll be getting up to much for awhile, with a shattered ankle you’ll be out of commission for at least a month” she went back to disinfecting the cuts silently, and the man kept his mouth shut, flinching slightly here and there as she sterilized cuts that turned out deeper than they looked. After what seemed like an hour Jack stepped back, hands on hips, and looked him over; all of the large cuts had been bandaged and the smaller ones disinfected, and any glass she had found left in the wounds had been carefully removed and discarded into the biohazard bucket, and finally she moved away to page the doctor on call.

“He’s not gonna get me in trouble will he?” the man asked from the examination table. He had remained silent and still for much of Jack’s process, but now he appeared restless and uncomfortable, like he was ready to run at any moment.

“No, the man may have a medical degree but he’s no genius, he’s not going to put two and two together here, you’ll be fine” she gave him a small smile and stood by the door, waiting for the doctor.

It took another half hour or so for the on-call doctor to properly set the man’s ankle before he put it in a small boot cast and ordered him to come back in in six weeks to check the progress. When the man stood, with the help of a crutch, and went to leave the room, he gave Jack another shit eating grin, and reached over and discreetly slipped what seemed to be a business card into the pocket of her bright pink scrubs. When the two had both left and she was alone in the silent examination room she pulled the card from her pocket and glanced over the sparse design and the three simple lines of text.

The fucker’s name was Geoff Ramsey.

-

The address on the card Ramsey had given her lead her to a shitty brownstone walk-up apartment in downtown LS. It was the kind of place she expected to get mugged in, even dressed as she was in plain jeans and her bright blushy pink scrub top from her overnight shift. She hadn’t had time to really change when she had gotten home at seven that morning, she had just fallen into bed in her scrubs and passed out from exhaustion. When she had called him on her way home they had set up a meeting for two pm, and she had woken up with an hour before she had to leave and no idea where to go, so she had just thrown on jeans to replace her crumpled scrub pants, and had left the house. And now she stood in front of the building, not quite sure how she felt about being here.

On one hand, she knew Ramsey’s jobs could deliver a far better pay-check than the ER could, she knew he was successful as a bank robber, she had seen countless news stories about him since she moved to LS, and had heard his name whispered in awe from time to time when she did patch up jobs on some of the local gangs, she knew he was good at what he did. But on the other hand, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to risk life and limb, or even prison, for a man she didn’t know just for some extra money. Eventually she pushed herself forward and climbed the stairs into the building’s lobby, and buzzed the button that had Ramsey next to it, a newly scrawled, spikey printed name was on the sticker stuck next to the button, as if the landlord expected him to be a very temporary resident. The door to the inside of the building unlocked with a soft click, and she marched her way through the door and up the stairs, not giving herself another moment to have any doubts about what she was doing. Whether she took this job or not it was worth having a meeting with him and seeing what it was he had to offer. Jack didn’t want to be a successful, well known individual, all she wanted was a roof over her head that she wasn’t worried about losing, groceries she liked in her fridge instead of cheap shitty food, and some extra cash on the side to get a fancy coffee from that shop two blocks down from the hospital she liked, or to maybe go see a movie when it wasn’t cheap night, and her forty-eight to sixty hour weeks at the ER just weren’t cutting it anymore. Surviving in Los Santos on a nurse’s salary wasn’t getting her anywhere at all.

She stopped outside his door, took a deep breath, and knocked, a loud decisive rap followed by a second on the thin wood door. It took a moment that seemed to stretch infinitely in front of her from her nerves and exhaustion, that was likely only about a minute, for the door to open and reveal Ramsey.

He looked as exhausted as she felt, the bags under his eyes were dark, and the almost-beard that he’d had going on the night before was starting to sprout up into a proper beard instead of simply shadow. He gave her a lopsided smile and stepped out of the doorway.

“Come on in Miss Pattillo” he said, trying to sound like some sort of professional. Jack nodded at him and smiled back, walking past him into the apartment. Ramsey shut the door behind her and led her through to the living room.

“So what sort of position am I here for?” She asked, her brows pulled together as she surveyed the room. It was clearly the living room of the apartment, but it was extremely sparse, there was a squashy, worn couch pushed against one wall, across from it and slightly turned were two slightly newer easy chairs, it was a well put together, if a little shabby, but it lacked life, no photos on the walls, nothing of any sentimental note anywhere in the room.

“It’s sort of a full time position” Ramsey said, practically collapsing into one of the easy chairs, the one closer to the far wall of the apartment, clearly his chair. Jack sat on the couch and crossed one leg over the other at the knee.

“Try me”

“I need someone like you on-call at all times, I get into a lot of trouble, and I can’t afford to be going to the hospital all the time, mostly legally, I can’t risk another instance like last night of someone recognizing me off the news”

“So you need a nurse?” Jack raised an eyebrow, leaning back. She’d be trading in one job as a nurse for another, this didn’t feel like anything would really change at all.

“No, no, I need a partner, your medical know-how is a plus, but I can’t keep pulling shit alone, if I stay by myself I’ll get caught someday, a partner is gonna give me, us, an advantage on that” he was grinning wickedly, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.

“What makes you think I’d make for a good partner?” suddenly she was interested again and she leant forward, mimicking his posture.

“It’s simple” he said, still grinning “You didn’t rat me out last night, Jaclyn, any other person would have in a heart beat, reward or not, people like to feel like the hero, but you, you let me get up and leave that exam room, get in my car, and drive home without a cop in sight.”

“So, what does being your partner in crime entail?” She was genuinely interested now, she was no stranger to a bit of danger, she could easily be pulled into this without another word, but she needed to know what she was up against.

“A lot of planning, robberies, heists, things like that, for the time being, helping me with any injuries, and you’ll need to move in here with me” he paused, giving her a chance to object before continuing “Once you’re moved in we can divide up household chores, I’m not some kinda animal who’s gonna make the lady of the house look after all the chores and shit by herself” he smiled “Although for right now I’ll need to bow out of any sweeping or mopping because of my ankle”

Jack took a moment, made it seem like she was thinking hard about it, before finally she nodded to herself decidedly, and smiled.

“I’m in” she said, smiling at Ramsey, Geoff, as she uncrossed her legs and leaned back a bit “You’ve got yourself a partner.” Geoff’s grin was wide as he stood with care, and walked a few steps forward, his hand out. Jack rose to meet him, and took his hand, shaking firmly.

“It’s good to have you aboard Jaclyn” He said as he released her hand, moving to sit down again.

“It’s Jack. You can call me Jack” She said simply, the smile still on her face.

“Jack huh? Well, alright, Jack Pattillo, I’m glad to make this solo act a duet”

-

They agreed to move Jack’s things two days after she had accepted the position, that would give her time to put in notice at the LS ER, and get her things packed. Her apartment wasn’t big, and most of what was in it that was hers was relatively small. She planned on leaving her couch, it was shitty and uncomfortable anyway, but bringing her coffee table and side tables, because Geoff didn’t have any, and in her personal opinion, every living room needed a coffee table. There were a few photos to pack, her high school diploma, her framed nursing degree, books, her clothes, and sheets, and her few bathroom towels and toiletries, and her dishes. She didn’t really have much to her name that she wanted to take.

The biggest issue would be her bed. Geoff had a spare room at his place, but it didn’t have a bed, he’d been using it for storage mostly, so she’d have to take her bed apart so it could go over to his place too.

She had already called the hospital to put in her notice the evening she’d gotten back from Geoff’s apartment, she felt horrible, just up and leaving like that, but she had to cut ties fast or she’d never do it.

After that came packing, first the easy quick things, toiletries she wouldn’t need for the next two days, extra sheets, a few towels, and some books.

It was the day after she’d agreed to work with Geoff that she realized she owned almost nothing but scrubs for clothes. It was ridiculous, she could have sworn she’d had more real clothes, and yet she stood with an open cardboard box at her feet, almost entirely full of scrubs in various bright colours and prints. Her closet and dresser were nearly empty by that point and almost all of it had been scrubs. She’d packed the odd pair of jeans, and a few t-shirts and sweaters and some pyjamas besides the scrubs, but it was still mostly scrubs. That was when she finally realized just how low things had gotten for her.

“How are all of my clothes just scrubs” she wondered aloud to herself, sitting heavily on the edge of her bed “How did I get here?” she sat with her face in her hands, absolutely confused by herself.

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but after a long while there was a knock on her front door, so she stood up, took a deep breath, and smoothed out the t-shirt she was wearing, and pretended that she had absolutely not just been crying.

Geoff stood outside her door, holding a tool kit and looking strangely nervous. She had only known him a short time, but Jack decided that nervousness was not an emotion that she liked seeing on Geoff. She pulled the door open and gave him a smile, putting on a brave face.

“What brings you by?” She said, moving out of the doorway so he could come in.

“I wanted to tell you that you don’t need to worry about breaking down your bed by yourself” he grinned at her, holding up the box of tools.

“We’re not moving my shit until tomorrow though Geoff” Jack said, confused.

“Oh I know, but I figured I could help you get your bed apart and you can sleep at my place tonight and we can bring your shit over tomorrow”

“That’s real sweet of you Geoff, but where am I gonna sleep at your place?” she asked, leading him back to her room.

“I figure you can take my room for the night and I can take the couch” he shrugged one shoulder, smiling.

“I can’t put you out of your own room like that” she smiled back at him a bit, patting his arm “It’s fine, we can just do my bed tomorrow”

“No, I insist, besides, I’ve got sort of a uh, housewarming gift for you that I don’t wanna give you here” he looked a little bashful, which Jack found very endearing.

“You sure I wouldn’t be putting you out or anything?” she said, glancing down at the boot cast on his ankle.

“Nah, I end up sleeping out on the couch most nights anyway” he said with a shrug.

“Well, alright” she smiled at him as she pushed the door to the bedroom open, leading him in. Her bed took up most of the small space, a queen-sized mattress with a bulky wooden frame, across from it was her dresser, the same colour wood and equally as large in its own right. Geoff put the toolbox down on top of the dresser and set to work examining the bedframe. Jack just stood back by the door, watching him work intently. The eagerness he showed in just coming to help her take her bed apart to move was sweet. His goofiness in the ER the other night had already greatly endeared him to her, and she wasn’t sure she could feel any fonder of him than she had then, just after meeting him, but this, seeing him knelt down on her floor with a screwdriver and his foot in a boot cast, trying to take her bedframe apart, it was truly a moment she had a feeling she’d remember for the rest of their partnership.

“This really is a hulk of a bed man, how’d you even get it up here in the first place? The elevator in here is busted isn’t it?”

“It wasn’t when I moved in, we don’t even know what happened to the damn thing but like two weeks after I moved in it was fucked” she shrugged a bit, leaning back on the wall “Also I enlisted the help of one of my nurse friends, he’s a massive dude himself so it worked pretty easily.” Geoff laughed at that and shook his head.

“Well this is gonna be fun to get out of here tomorrow” he said.

“That can be a Tomorrow Us problem” Jack said, grinning at him.

“A Tomorrow Us problem it is” Geoff said, repaying the smile with one of his own.

-

All in all it took the two of them over an hour to get Jack’s bedframe pulled apart. It absolutely didn’t need to take that long, but between playful arguments and Jack making Geoff get up off his knees, lest he cut off his circulation to his broken ankle, every so often it took much longer than it should have. Neither of them really minded it.

It had been years since Jack remembered feeling so openly happy with someone else. Because of someone else.

“Alright” Geoff said, sitting back on his heels “Let’s pile this thing up so we can bundle it up tomorrow”

“Nope” Jack smiled and offered him a hand to help him up “We’ve been at this way too long, we can leave the rest of it to tomorrow, for now we need some dinner, you need to elevate your foot, and we both need to sleep.”

“Are you sure? I mean it’s not gonna be any trouble to get it done now”

“Than it won’t be any trouble to do it tomorrow” She said simply, grabbing Geoff by the wrist and hauling him up to his feet “It can wait, come on, let’s get home and order something in” she patted his shoulder lightly and smiled at him, noting the somewhat shocked look on his face.

She had called his place home without even thinking about it. She hadn’t even stayed one night there and it had felt more like home than her apartment had ever felt.

“Alright, you’re right, it can wait” he smiled “Let’s get home then” they walked together to the front door, Jack carrying her purse and the box she’d packed of her clothes, her ridiculous collection of scrubs and jeans, and locked the front door behind them and they headed down.

The car ride back to Geoff’s apartment was quiet, but not uncomfortably so, it was a pleasant sort of quiet, the news radio buzzing in the background, and every so often the soft sound of Geoff humming some tune or another.

Jack wasn’t sure she had ever felt so content in her life. And in a way, it scared her; the happiest, most content that she had ever felt was sitting in a beat up old Chevy truck with a criminal.

“You got anything in mind for dinner?” Geoff asked when they pulled onto his street, Jack glanced over at him from the driver’s seat, an eyebrow raised.

“Are there any good Chinese places nearby? I could go for some sweet and sour chicken and some chow mein”

“I think I’ve got a couple Chinese takeout menus in a drawer in the kitchen, we can take a look for something good” he smiled at her a bit crookedly, it was incredibly endearing.

“Sounds good.” The comfortable silence resumed for the last few minutes of the drive. She parked in one of the two designated spots for Geoff’s apartment, and the two got out. She grabbed her box and her purse out of the backseat and the two headed up to Geoff’s place. Luckily, the elevator in his apartment actually worked.

Once inside Geoff took her back into the spare room, the one that would be hers as of tomorrow, so she could drop her box off. She put it down on the floor of the cramped closet, resolving to unpack some of it before she went to bed, but so much of what was in the box didn’t need to be hung up, and her dresser was still at her old place. She just felt the need to show that this place was hers too now, and she figured the best way to do that would be to hang up her one nice dress and a couple of button down Hawaiian shirts that got too wrinkled when she folded them into her dresser, and that she frankly couldn’t even remember buying.

Jack stayed standing in the room for long enough that Geoff left for awhile, and was gone long enough he felt the need to come find her when she didn’t come out shortly after. She had just gotten caught up in her thoughts, how she’d fit her furniture into this room, it was bigger than hers at the old apartment, not by a lot, but still bigger, and she was trying to decide which side of the room to set her bed up on when they brought it in the next day when Geoff cleared his throat a little louder than necessary to get her attention.

“I uh, I know you probably need a couple minutes to adjust or whatever before we order dinner and do anything else, but I wanted to give you something, a sort of ‘Welcome to the Fuckery’ gift so to speak” he paused and walked into the room, hands behind his back.

“Yeah, you mentioned back at my old place that you had something… What is it?” she asked curiously. Geoff said nothing and handed her a small box, it was a pale dusty pink colour wrapped with a satiny soft bow, her eyebrows drew together and she looked up from the box to Geoff’s face, he was watching her expectantly, leaning toward her and slightly left to accommodate both his injured foot and his curiosity.

“Go ahead, open it” he said expectantly. Jack smiled a bit at his impatience and took hold of one of the loose ends of the bow, and tugged it to untie it, and, after unwrapping the ribbon and draping it over her neck, making a silly face at Geoff, she pulled off the lid of the box, and gasped in surprised delight.

Inside, lying on top of a soft bed of satin, was a pistol. It was slim and dainty, a pale grey that looked almost silver in the right light, and the grip was pearl, milky white and smoother than she’d ever seen anything be, except for an engraving at the bottom left side of the grip, a simple cursive ‘J.P’ adorned the otherwise unmarred pearl.

“It’s… It’s beautiful Geoff” she said after a long moment of silence, searching for the right thing to say “Thank you”

“I figured if you’re gonna be hanging around with me you should have something of your own to protect yourself, and I thought, a pretty gun for a pretty lady” Geoff shrugged slightly with one shoulder “I can teach you how to shoot it if you don’t know how, it’s not too hard, we’ll just need to find a quiet place for it”

“I know how to shoot a pistol” she said, grinning “I grew up in Texas, I know my way around a gun”

“Good, good, makes shit a hell of a lot easier than doesn’t it?” Geoff grinned at her, and Jack smiled right back before gently replacing the gun back into the box, and setting it down on the windowsill behind her, and pulled Geoff into a tight hug.

“That might be the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me Geoff Ramsay.” She said quietly.

“It was nothing, really” he replied, hugging her back tightly.

“No, it wasn’t nothing, it means everything that you care enough to make sure I’m safe.”

-

The two of them fell into an easy rhythm once they had moved Jack’s things in. They took turns cooking meals and washing dishes after them, tidying shared spaces and doing household laundry. Jack had never been so easy around another person in her life, not even her family, but life with Geoff was so much easier than she could have possibly imagined.

Days slipped into weeks which slipped into months and still she couldn’t find a single irredeemable flaw with her partnership with Geoff. Sure he was a little particular about some things, the way he took his coffee in the morning, or how he would always refold his clothes whenever Jack did laundry because it wasn’t quite right to him, but no one was without quirks, and she knew she certainly wasn’t perfect by any means, she could happily accept Geoff and his little idiosyncrasies in exchange for the pleasant solace that living with him had brought.

The calm wouldn’t last very long though.

Six weeks after she had agreed to work with Geoff she removed the cast from his ankle. It had healed perfectly it seemed, he had come in with a textbook perfect break in the first place, though the bone had broken in a few spots they had been clean breaks and nothing had splintered off, so it wasn’t difficult to see how it had healed so well.

The moment it was off Geoff was on his feet. He had been far from still for the past six weeks, but the energy that engulfed him when the cast was off was unrivaled by anything Jack would see in the rest of her years living with him. He had been restless, unable to do what he loved best, work, for over a month, and he was ready to start again. There were no plans for anything big, it would be Jack’s first heist and Geoff knew he shouldn’t go too hard on her for her first go. It would be a quick bank job, in and out as quick as possible, get the tellers to hand over any money in the tills to Jack while he went out back to the safe with a clerk to pull out as much cash as possible. Jack’s main job would be crowd control.

“All you need to do,” He said, leaning over a steaming mug of coffee at the kitchen table “Is make sure the tellers don’t hit a panic button, and that no one in the bank calls the police, don’t kill anybody, try not to shoot anybody, it’ll be easy stuff”

“Sure, for you maybe, this is my first time doing this Geoffrey, I don’t see how it’s going to be easy at all” She said, she sat across from him, cradling a mug of sweet smelling herbal tea in her hands, it was easier to hide the shaking in her fingers if she was holding something to steady her.

“It’s like anything you do for the first time, it’s only hard cause you haven’t done it before” Geoff reasoned, sipping at his coffee “Once you learn to ride the bike you never forget right? You just gotta learn to ride”

“Geoff this isn’t like riding a bike, if I fail I’m not just gonna scrape my knees or my palms and be able to get back up and dust myself off, I could get us killed!”

“But you won’t. I know you won’t.” Geoff’s words were simple, completely serious, his belief in her was steady, and he wasn’t taking no for an answer “This is what you signed up for Jack, you gotta learn eventually” he sipped at his coffee again, watching her steadily from above the mug.

“I’m scared” she said, she hated to admit it, but she was, there was so much risk to this, so much that could go wrong in a single moment of carelessness, and it would be all over “I could get you killed” she wasn’t worried about herself anymore, she had stopped worrying about herself a long time ago, but Geoff, she couldn’t risk losing him, not after what he’d done for her, she knew for a fact that, in a way, he’d saved her life, she couldn’t repay him by mistakenly ending his.

“You won’t Jack. I’ve done this same type of job half a hundred times, it’s an easy in and out heist, we’ll be there barely twenty minutes, and we’ll be out again and on the way back home”

“But you’ve never had a partner before, you’ve never had to worry about someone else!” Jack knew she was overreacting a touch, but she couldn’t help it, she didn’t want to risk him.

“Jack.” Geoff’s voice had risen a little to match hers and it gave her pause, she had never heard him raise his voice like that, it was out of character and she knew it “You will do _fine_. It’s going to be a quick, easy job, and nothing is going to go wrong” his voice resumed its normal volume once he’d gotten her attention “It’s gonna be textbook and we’re both gonna be fine and I’m gonna take you out to a nice restaurant afterward to celebrate, okay?”

“On one condition” Jack’s heart was still racing, and she knew she wouldn’t feel any less nervous until it was done and over with, but Geoff’s reassurance made things a little better at least.

“Alright, I’ll bite” he said.

“We need to use codenames, I don’t want to risk the cops knowing who we are” It wasn’t even for her own sake, Geoff’s image had been splashed in all it’s grainy, mostly disguised glory all over the news for over a week, she didn’t want to risk giving the police a name to match the man.

“Done.”

-

The codenames were King and Queen. Geoff picked them out, he thought it’d be a fun way to taunt the police.

King Ramsey and Queen Pattillo were an as-yet unknown pair that would reek havoc on the city for years to come, but this first time, the job was small, a blink and you miss it kind of havoc. Geoff had everything planned perfectly, they’d take Jack’s car and black out her plates, they’d enter, backs to the cameras, and pull on masks to hide their faces, long sleeves on Geoff to hide his tattoos, they were an identifier they couldn’t afford, and they’d get to work.

And Geoff was right; it was like learning to ride a bike, once she got the hang of it, it was one of the easiest things for her to do.

They got passed the guards at the door easily, they walked in close together, holding hands, they just looked like any other couple running errands for the day. It didn’t take long for that façade to fall, they shared a quick glance and Jack took a deep breath, and they put their masks on. Geoff was immediately in his element, he had a pistol in his hand and he pointed it to the ceiling, and fired off a shot.

“Everybody get on the _fucking floor_ ” he said, gun still raised, his voice was lower than Jack had ever heard it, commanding and angry, but when he glanced over at Jack again she could see that he was smiling under the semi-transparent plastic mask. It took less than a minute for the few people in the bank to hit the deck. They approached the counter together, Jack mirroring Geoff’s stance, shoulders back, spine straight, stride long, there was no room for error here, no room to show weakness.

“Now” Geoff said, leaning against the counter “You are gonna fill up a bag for my friend here from your front tills, and one of you lovely people are going to take me back to your vault.” His voice left no room for argument and the woman he was speaking at nodded frantically, Jack turned her head quickly, glancing over the room, no one had moved, and she counted them lucky that they had come in to find such a complacent crowd. Geoff stepped away from the counter with the teller he had been threatening, and Jack turned her attention back to the other two, they were both standing backs against the wall, looking terrified, rightly so in Jack’s opinion.

“Open the tills.” She said simply, steeling herself, there was no turning back now, she handed them the backpack she’d been wearing, and kept her pistol visible the whole time, Geoff had said before hand that just having the weapon out would keep the crowd at bay for fear of being shot. The two tellers busied themselves emptying cash into the backpack. Jack knew banks didn’t typically keep much money in their front tills so she believed them when they told her they were out of cash. She snatched back the bag and glanced back towards where Geoff had walked off with the other teller.

Jack was starting to get nervous now. She made the tellers back off from the tills to keep them from pressing a panic button, and none of the civilians in the building had so much as reached for their phones, but it seemed like Geoff was taking too long. She took a deep breath and shoved her nerves down, getting a stronger grip on the pearl grip in her hand.

“Hurry it up King we’re done out here!” She called, trying to keep her voice to a low timber, the less accurate the descriptions that could be given the better.

It was another long moment before Geoff finally remerged from the back room, an army issue duffle bag in each hand and his gun sticking out of the waist of his pants.

“You eager to be done so quick Queenie?” He asked, a hint of teasing in his voice, she knew behind his mask he was grinning just from the sound of his voice.

“Uh yeah the fuck I am let’s go, I’ve already heard two sets of sirens go past and I don’t wanna take anymore chances, so let’s get the fuck outta here” she said, hoisting her bag up onto her shoulder.

“Lead the way my Queen” he said simply, and she saw him wink behind the mask, and without another thought Jack took off at a jog, her adrenaline was unreal, they burst out onto the street, shoved their bags in the car and got in themselves, and sped out as quickly as they possibly could.

They stopped a few blocks over to move the bags and their masks to the trunk of the car and pull the duct tape off of Jack’s licence plate.

They hadn’t heard a single police siren as they’d left.

“That was fucking insane” she said finally once they had gotten back in the car and started driving again “Absolutely fucking insane”

“Told you we’d be fine” Geoff smirked over at her from the passenger seat “Just like riding a bike”

“That was a hell of a lot scarier than any bike I’ve ever ridden” Jack replied, rolling her eyes a bit, but ultimately smiling back at Geoff.

“And you loved every god damn second of it” Geoff punched her shoulder lightly, grinning “You did great today Queenie, I told you you could do it”

“Well considering I’d never committed a bank robbery before you can understand my apprehension I’m sure” she said dryly. Geoff laughed loudly, leaning back in his seat.

“Well you’d a never known you hadn’t done it before, you were a natural in there, the way you got those tellers to listen to you! Not a single silent alarm was triggered, not a single civy called the cops! It was incredible, that was the best heist I’ve ever done!”

“Oh yeah? The best huh? Not sure I buy that”

“Well, maybe not _the best_ ” he conceded.

“Yeah I didn’t think so”

“No,” he continued as if she hadn’t spoken “I’d say the best heist I ever did was the one before this one”

“How so? You broke your ankle and barely got out with your money” Jack glanced over at him, puzzled as to why he’d choose that job as the best out of all the ones he’d done.

“Sure there were some minor set backs, but if it weren’t for that heist, I’d never have met you.”

-

They were on the news that night. Grainy footage of the backs of their heads, and police sketches that didn’t really look like either of them, save for Jack’s wavy red hair and Geoff’s dark short cut, and their approximate heights. Really, they could have been anyone according to those sketches. No one had seen their vehicle, no one had gotten a clear look at their faces, or at Geoff’s tattoos. It had been seamless. The most identifying marker any of the witnesses could come up with was Jack’s pale blue Hawaiian shirt, and it wasn’t like it was special made or anything, it had been something like ten dollars at WalMart, thousands of people probably had the same shirt.

Geoff declared the day a roaring success, so in celebration they ordered takeout. Geoff had promised a nice meal out in honour of Jack’s first job, but she had come out the other side utterly exhausted. Once they had arrived home and carried their loot up to the apartment her adrenaline rush had quickly left her, and she had fallen asleep on the couch, waking just in time to see the terrible sketches on the news. She woke to the TV droning quietly and a soft warm thigh under her cheek. Geoff had an arm placed protectively on her side and was staring intently ahead at the TV screen, entirely oblivious to Jack having woken up.

Jack couldn’t say she minded it.

“Did I miss anything about the coverage?” She asked, her voice a bit rough, how long had she been asleep for? Geoff jumped a little, clearly startled to find that she was awake.

“Nothing much really, they just started the story, but it seems like we’re one-hundred per cent in the clear for your first job” he smiled down at her and ruffled her hair a bit “The sketches look nothing like us, no one can properly identify anything about us, they’re making assumptions that I’m the same guy who did the last bank heist, which is true, even if they don’t know that for sure, but they’re running themselves ragged trying to figure out where you came from” Jack smiled back up at him. “From the sounds of it even the tellers you talked to face to face couldn’t agree on identifying features other than your hair”

“I figured that, I mean it’s the only thing that matches anything on my person” she yawned a bit, settling a little further into Geoff’s lap “But honestly, that doesn’t help them much, there’s a tonne of women in this city with short red hair, it’s a big goddamn city Geoff” she said excitedly.

“You’ve got that right sweetheart” Geoff smiled and patted her hair lightly, stretching his legs out a bit under her “If you’re hungry the takeout came while you were asleep, the boxes are on the kitchen counter for you, they should still be warm” he said. Jack stretched a bit herself and nodded.

“I was looking forward to that Chinese” she said, slowly sitting up and rubbing at her eyes.

“Well your sweet and sour chicken and chow mein await my friend” Geoff grinned, shifting a bit in his seat, trying to get comfortable again now that Jack wasn’t laying on him anymore.

“Sounds fucking good to me man” she said, rising somewhat unsteadily from the couch, and trudging back to the kitchen.

She honestly couldn’t believe their luck. They had banked almost 30,000 dollars in under fifteen minutes and not a single soul had been able to identify them.

Jack was almost nervous at how proud she felt of herself, and how excited she was for their future.

-

Months passed, and they were the best months of Jack’s life. She was never bored, Geoff was sure to keep her on her toes, both with jokes and jobs, and she had never had more freedom. She and Geoff would frequent bars on weekends, and would case places for jobs once or twice a week, not every place would make the cut, but they were hitting banks and jewelry stores at least twice a month, and were saving up a hefty sum. Geoff called it a nest egg in a sort of sarcastic way, the term, Jack knew, was usually used to mean money tucked away ‘just in case’ but it was more of a ‘we can’t put this in a bank all at once we’d get caught’ type of savings.

It was a night for just one of those casings that caused Jack to call for Geoff’s help that night. The two had agreed to network at a charity event being held at a hotel in downtown LS. There was going to be several of the cities wealthiest people and the two were considering some sort of home break-in, and they may as well check over whoever they may end up planning to hit. It was a black tie event so they had to be fancy, and it was the fanciness that saw Jack where she was, in a dress nicer than she ever thought she’d wear, and the zipper stuck halfway from the top.

“Geoff I’m serious can you _please_ come here!” She called again, sighing loudly “I need a hand man!” it was another few minutes before Geoff came into her room, he looked quite dapper in his well fitted classic tuxedo, tugging uncomfortably at the cuff of one sleeve.

“What did you need Jack?” He asked, brows furrowed, he looked a bit concerned by her yelling.

“I need some help with the last few inches on my zipper” she turned her back to him, feeling oddly thankful for the sleeves on the dress because she suddenly felt awkward under Geoff’s gaze, though she didn’t know why.

“Oh, okay, I thought you’d hurt yourself or something from the way you were yelling” he said lightly, stepping up behind her, he pinched the zipper underneath where the zip itself sat, and pulled it up, pausing to ask Jack to move her hair aside so he could do it up all the way. “Alright, good to go” he said, patting her shoulder lightly.

“Thanks Geoff” she said, letting her hair fall back into place, she knew she’d have to do something with it before they left, but getting the dress done up was more of a priority in her eyes.

“That dress suits you” Geoff said, smiling a bit, looking her up and down. The dress brushed her ankles in a deep blue cascade of tulle and sparkles, the bodice of it hugged her tightly from the waist up in the same dark blue overlaid with a delicate white lace that rose up to her throat and made its way down her arms to her wrists in the sleeves she had been so thankful for moments ago. “You look really pretty” he continued, suddenly avoiding her eyes.

“I’m not done yet, but thank you” she smiled at him, forcing down a blush that suddenly wanted to creep up her neck “You don’t look so bad yourself” she said, reaching out to punch his shoulder affectionately.

“I’ll let you finish getting ready then, but you better hurry up, we gotta leave soon” he said, pointing a finger at her in playful warning.

“Yeah yeah, I won’t be long” she said, grinning. When he left she sat back down in front of her dresser and started to fuss with her hair, she ended up with it in a loose bun at the nape of her neck, and a few bits hanging in soft curls around her face. It wasn’t perfect, but she was only one woman and it’d have to do.

She emerged from her bedroom about ten minutes later, hastily shoving her phone and her lipstick into her little purse, one heel on one heel off, the one she wasn’t wearing tucked under her arm, she felt that she must have looked like a complete mess, but it was only Geoff at home so it didn’t really matter. She leaned on the wall at the end of the hallway, pulled on her shoe, and huffed out a vaguely annoyed sigh, and smoothed down her dress, walking out into the living room.

“Ta-da” she said, spreading her arms out, jokingly presenting herself.

“Okay I know what you’re doing is a joke but you actually look fantastic Jack” Geoff said, laughing a little as he spoke “I’m so used to you in shorts and your dumb Hawaiian shirts, it’s a fun change”

“Says the man I didn’t even know owned a suit” she teased “The tux is a great look on you” she smiled and walked over to him, fixing his bow tie slightly “Shall we go?” she looked up at his face, smiling.

“Let’s” Geoff said, grinning at her and offering her his arm.

-

The party had been boring to say the least. Jack almost wanted something bad to happen just so that they could _do_ something, Geoff had even warned her something might happen so she’d strapped her pistol to her thigh under the elastic of the stockings she wore, because they were more comfortable and practical than a thigh holster, just in case. But _nothing_ happened the whole night. There were finger foods and champagne, and annoying networking type small talk. And half the time the small talk wasn’t even directed at her, there were so many older men with pretty, young women on their arms that only wanted to talk to other men, so she was forced to stand there and listen and just look pretty, and make small gestures and nods towards the other women. When they finally managed to make an excuse to take their leave she wanted to scream with frustration.

“I hated every moment of that” she said when they were out in the car, she buckled herself in and toed off her heels, sighing heavily “I was so fucking bored”

“Me too man” Geoff said as he started the engine “We got all dolled up just to get talked at by a bunch of old white dudes who never really worked a day in their goddamn lives” he groaned and pulled out of their parking spot and out onto the street “None of them are even great job candidates and I want to hit at least one of them just out of spite.”

“At least you got to have any interaction at all, the closest I got to a conversation was asking the waiter for another glass of champagne”

“Yeah, you’re right” he sighed heavily “Fuck I don’t think I ever want to do that again” He paused, glancing over at Jack “The only upside was seeing you all dressed up”

“Yeah yeah, I know, my brother loved to make fun of me when I had to get dressed up, I know I look awkward” she said, shrugging slightly, leaning her seat back a bit.  
“No, that’s not what I meant at all” Geoff said, Jack looked up at him, finding him staring out into traffic with furrowed brows “You look beautiful, and it was fun seeing you all done up, I mean I’ve known you for almost six months and I’m not even sure I’ve seen you wear a skirt the whole time I’ve known you.”

Jack was silent as he spoke, utterly confused.

“You don’t need to lie to me Geoffrey, I know I’m awkward in formal wear” she said, staring out the window.

“I’m not lying to you Jack, for Christ sake, did you not notice me and everyone like actually fucking staring at you tonight? Are you kidding me?” the shock in his voice was what made Jack look at him again, he was staring at her in disbelief, and Jack was vaguely glad for being stuck in traffic because he was looking at her far too intensely to be driving safely.

“No…I didn’t” She said giving him a sceptical look.

“Right” He said, clearing his throat a bit, turning his eyes back to the road as the traffic started to move again.

They were silent the rest of the drive, neither seeming to know what to say, or how to follow up that conversation. The silence was heavy but not necessarily uncomfortable, a testament to the strength of their friendship, Jack supposed.

They entered the building and road the elevator up to their apartment, still in silence, Geoff looked lost in thought when Jack chanced a glance at him, which confused her even more, why was he so affected by that conversation?

Once inside their apartment they walked down the hall and parted ways at their respective bedroom doors to change. Fifteen minutes later Jack emerged from her bedroom, free of makeup, her hair down again, and in her comfiest pyjamas and slippers, to make it up to her feet for the heels she’d worn, to find Geoff half sprawled on the sofa, channel surfing. He glanced up at her, gave her a bit of a smile, and shifted to make room for her to sit on the sofa with him. She gladly took up the silent offer and sat down, pulling her feet up onto the couch, planting her feet on the couch, the tips of her slippers pressing into Geoff’s thigh. It was their preferred seating arrangement it seemed, as they would frequently find themselves replicating the postures night after night. The closeness of it felt particularly necessary that night for reasons Jack couldn’t quite put to words.

After a little more channel surfing, Geoff settled on the late night news and stretched his legs out to rest his socked feet on the coffee table. They listened to the hosts drone on about this and that for awhile before Geoff finally spoke.

“I meant what I said you know, Jack” he said softly, not looking at her.

“About what?” she asked, watching his face in profile, seeing his lips twitch before he spoke again, that was a tell, but she wasn’t sure for what.

“About you looking beautiful. Just cause your shit head brother doesn’t understand what a gorgeous woman in a gorgeous dress looks like doesn’t mean every man on earth doesn’t” he paused and finally looked at her “I just figure that you should know that I think you’re fucking great, and I’m a lucky guy to get to have you around” His eyes were intense as he spoke, and Jack had to look away, not quite sure how to respond to that.

“I’m the lucky one Geoff” she said finally, looking back up at him “If it weren’t for you I’d still be working sixty hour weeks over the course of three days, somehow still barely able to get by, and hating my life and everything in it because I’d let work take over everything so much that I didn’t have a single real friend in this town to speak of” she paused, taking a deep breath “I was so _lonely_ before you waltzed into my ER on a broken ankle” she laughed a bit “So you’re wrong, I’m the lucky one here.”

“We’re both lucky than” Geoff smiled at her, it was small a slow, the corner of his mouth lifting just a little “I knew I was getting reckless, and I needed someone to reign me in, if it hadn’t been for you, the next job I did I probably would have gotten myself killed because I had nothing better to do than go harder” He reached out and grabbed her hand, giving it a light squeeze “I had no one here, no one back home waiting for me to call and update them on my life or whatever the fuck, all I had was a twisted drive and adrenaline. Now I’ve got someone to come home to every night that actually gives a fuck whether I walk through that door before dinner time or not” Geoff leaned a little closer to her, his head bowed a little “You gave me something to give a shit about, a reason to keep going. So I’d say we’re both pretty lucky” he smiled at her and kissed her forehead lightly before moving back to his original position.

But he was still holding her hand.

-

Geoff never brought that conversation up to Jack again after that night but she was a little suspicious none the less. After that party Geoff seemed to make it a point to drop compliments to her any chance he got, from little things like ‘your hair looks nice today’ or ‘I think that top looks nice with your eyes’ to full out just looking at her and calling her Beautiful out of nowhere. It didn’t necessarily upset her, she just found it odd, something in their relationship had shifted since they’d had that heart to heart., something she couldn’t quite place her finger on.

It took another small scale heist for anything to really come of it.

They ended up making the decision to hit up a jewelry store owned by one of the people they had spoken to at that party simply out of boredom and spite. They had seen something on the news about the guy being in some legal trouble because he was mistreating and underpaying his employees to a horrific level.

The heist was actually Jack’s idea. At the time the two of them were in a relatively good place, they were even considering moving apartments in the near future, shift their base of operations to a safer location, so they didn’t necessarily need the money, but it would be incredible in Jack’s opinion, to steal a bunch of fancy shit from the store, as well as empty out the tills, pawn the jewelry for a fair sum and then find a way to wire it into the bank accounts of the employees of the store. It was all very Robin Hood in Jack’s opinion, and when she put the idea to Geoff he was on-board immediately, both because he found the concept of it hilarious, but also because he agreed that those employees deserved better. He even had a friend who might be able to make the bank transfer, but if not they could track them down and leave the cash in their mailbox. Apparently, Geoff knew a guy that could do that too.

This small heist had just the same outline as their previous ones had had, Geoff was the one who would go after the big stuff, because he had more experience than Jack, he would grab the jewels and any money that might be in any safes out back, and Jack would hit the tills and be crowd control. She was good at the crowd control part of things, she had a towering presence that was authoritative and yet somehow it seemed to comfort the people present, as if they knew she wouldn’t shoot unless she physically had to. They would also be using codenames again. They were quickly becoming known as the King and Queen both on the news and in gang circles, it was just the two of them, they didn’t really have a crew yet but they were a force to be reckoned with, the calm, steadfast Queen and her reckless King, and while, historically, Queens have ruled better without a King that was not true in their case, they worked better together than any other gang in the city and they knew it.

They walked into the building with confidence, shoulders back, heads held high, but facing away from the cameras, they acted like they were perusing over the jewelry, lingering over rings, playing the cute couple once again. Once the staff had their backs turned to them they pulled on their masks, and Geoff fired a shot into the ceiling.

“Afternoon everyone, if you’d be so kind as to get down on the fuckin floor we can carry on here” he kept his gun raised to the ceiling, Jack had pulled hers out of the waistband of her shorts and was gripping it loosely, holding it so it would be seen, but not in any way that it may be seen as a threat. The small group of people obeyed and Jack approached the counter as Geoff began smashing open the glass cases with the butt of his pistol and pulling things out left and right.

“Don’t touch your panic button” Jack said simply to one of the two women at the cash, she had had a hand hovering upside down under the counter, but hadn’t pushed the alarm yet “We don’t mean any of you any harm, no one will get hurt so long as you empty out the tills and avoid alerting the police until after we’ve left” Jack handed the woman a backpack, setting her pistol on the counter, holding the grip loosely as the two women emptied their registers. “Thank you very much ladies” she said, glancing back at Geoff. He had busted through several of the cases and had seemingly cleared a few of them all the way out. Jack glanced back at the two women and watched them finish filling the bag. She took it back from them and slung it over her shoulder, and glanced back at Geoff again, he had cleared several of the cases in the time it had taken the two women to empty out every till. 

“Alright King, I think it’s time to head out” she said pointedly. She watched as he grabbed one last handful of jewelry items from the case he was in, and did up his duffel.

“Lead the way out than my Queen” he said and she could clearly hear the smile in his voice. Jack gripped the arm of her bag tighter and walked quickly towards the door, Geoff on her heels. Once outside they glanced around and pulled the masks off, and practically dove into their car. Geoff stowed the duffel in the backseat, shoving their masks inside before putting it in the back, and Jack decided it’d be best to leave the backpack out in plain sight, a woman in a passenger’s seat with a little backpack was not out of place enough to earn any suspicion should they get stopped for any reason.

They made it back to their apartment with ease. They made it out without a hitch, it was a picture perfect version of the heist. They were extremely lucky they’d driven off when they had, within five minutes of them pulling away from the store the police had gathered outside to investigate a call that one of the cashiers had made the moment Jack and Geoff were out the door.

By that time Jack wasn’t nervous to see their, badly drawn, likenesses on the news, so when they settled in to make sure they were in the clear that night she was totally relaxed. The news droned on in the background while they sat in their typical positions, comfortable in their silence and eating their celebratory take-out. It was a completely typical evening in their household, but it was following the formula of their, for some reason, slightly shifted relationship in that Geoff had a hand lightly placed on her knee.

She focused her attention away from his hand when the news shifted to the story of the jewelry store job. It was a relatively short story, the pretty woman behind the desk chatted about how nearly 100,000 dollars in jewelry and cash had been taken, mentioned the store was owned by the high profile dude on trial for employee endangerment or whatever it was, and flashed the newest unsuccessful sketch of the two of them with ‘King’ and ‘Queen’ beneath the photos as if it were their real names.

“You know, I could get used to the LSPD calling us their King and Queen” Geoff said, laughing a bit, not a care in the world. Of course, with how many jobs he’d done alone Jack wasn’t surprised by how unaffected he was by all of this.

“I like the sound of it” she replied warmly, stretching a bit. She had been the one to come up with the nicknames, and she did have to admit to having a certain amount of fondness for them. She was also pretty fond of the way Geoff called her his Queen in that playful voice on heists, not that she’d admit that out loud.

- 

It took two more weeks before Jack finally said something about the change in their relationship.

They were sitting on the couch in their usual position, but Jack was significantly jittery than usual. They had done a job today at a small bank downtown. It had been textbook, easy in-and-out job, but they’d somehow miscalculated what kind of people used that bank.

Geoff had gotten shot. There was a guy who had had a gun on him apparently, they’d decided to switch things around and Jack had gone back to the vault with the teller instead of Geoff, she had been back in the vault for maybe five minutes when she’d heard the gunshot. She had assumed it was Geoff firing a warning shot, so she waited another few minutes before going back out with a full bag. When she’d come back into the main room Geoff had been clutching at his upper left arm, his pistol still clutched in his left hand and trained on the man who’d shot him. The guy looked mean, and it seemed the two were at a stalemate. Jack had acted without thinking. 

Her friends growing up had always affectionately referred to her as ‘Mama Bear’ because she was fiercely protective, from getting into fights with bad boyfriends, to making sure her girls always had a knife or some sort of mace-like spray on them, just in case, to actually breaking the nose of her friend’s step-father when she found out he’d started hitting that friend’s little brother. It was an instinct she’d always carried with her, so the decision was easy, harming someone, or losing Geoff.

She chose to keep Geoff.

She shot the man in the wrist and his gun went flying. They prided themselves on not hurting the people inside the banks, and this was the first time they’d had to hurt someone during a job, but she couldn’t care less. Geoff was far more important to her than some man who she knew would kill him if he had the chance.

She picked the gun up as they strode out of the bank, blocking out the man’s screaming as she helped Geoff into the car.

“It’s just a graze Jackie, I’ll be fine” he said after she’d gotten him into the front passenger seat. 

“I’m a nurse, I’ll be the judge of that when we get home” She said simply, having to clench her jaw to keep the tears from falling. It was the first time this job had really clued her into the fact that it was very possible for her to lose Geoff, and that was not something that she wanted to think about.

She refused to lose Geoff.

He had been right, when they’d gotten home she forced him onto the couch, and pulled his sleeve up to check the wound. It really was only a graze, but deep enough that it was a little concerning. So Jack gathered her wits, walked back to their bathroom, and got out her little homemade suture kit. She sterilized everything and took it back out to the living room to stitch him up.

It took four stitches to close it up, nothing too big or too scary, but it shook her up. The reminder that Geoff was infinitely breakable was so jarring that she was unable to speak as she worked. She’d given him some pain medication and they’d assumed their regular couch position after she warned Geoff the pain medication might make him drowsy.

And that was where they stayed, Geoff’s left forearm resting lightly on Jack’s knees and his head pillowed on it, he wasn’t asleep, just drowsy, and they had just watched the news report, in which they had mentioned that the ‘Male in the couple’ was likely seeking medical care for a gun shot wound, and that doctor’s offices and emergency rooms should be on the lookout for a man with dark hair who was between five foot nine and six feet tall. It was then that she breached the subject.

She couldn’t hold it in anymore and the realization that Geoff was so easily breakable made her unable to even consider keeping it buried anymore.

“What am I to you?” She asked without even thinking, it came out a little harsher than she’d meant it to somehow. Geoff raised his head from his arm to look up at her with sleepy blue eyes, he sat up a bit and rubbed a hand over his face. 

“You’re my best friend and my business partner” he said slowly.

“I feel a but” She said, leaning her forearms against her thighs and leaning forward.

“Yeah there’s a but” he said “The ‘but’ is, that I’d like you to be more than that, if that’s okay with you?” she found the fact that it came out as a question very sweet, and she smiled at him. 

“I think that’d be perfectly fine with me” she said, leaning forward a little more she grabbed his wrist gently and pressed a kiss to the back of his hand. She watched as his sweet, crooked, grin slid across his face.

“I’m glad” he said, and leaned forward to meet her, and kissed her gently. When they pulled back, foreheads still pressed together, Jack grinned. 

“I am too” she said, and kissed him again.

-

After she’d finally come to terms with it, Jack found that falling into a relationship with Geoff was as easy as it was possible for something to be. Most things didn’t change, they still sat in their same positions on the couch, but now Geoff would lean his head against her knees, or rest a hand on her thigh when they sat together.

  
She also noticed that as time moved on, slowly her things started to migrate into Geoff’s room. A pair of earrings on the bedside table after a casing job, a couple of her silly Hawaiian shirts hung up with Geoff’s things in his closet, pairs of her shorts and shoes lay on his floor among Geoff’s own shoes and jeans, favourite makeup item on the dresser in his room.

Jack didn’t realize just how much it had become Their Room until one morning when they were planning to head out for a small job downtown, and she realized that her gun, the pretty pearl handled pistol Geoff had given her that very first night, was no longer in her bedside drawer in her own room, but was instead in it’s box in the locked cupboard in the bedside table on her side of the bed in ‘Geoff’s’ room. When she realized that she started to look around her room, and realized that everything that she used daily had moved into Geoff’s room, her favourite t-shirts, her softest pajamas, her bunny slippers that Geoff made his personal business to make fun of at every possible turn, her cozy floral bathrobe, all of it was in Geoff’s room, among Geoff’s things, her Hawaiian shirts hung up with his button downs, their knives placed side by side in a glass display drawer by the window. Even the book that was currently her bed-time read was on the bedside table in Geoff’s room and not her own. The realization was a little more shocking than she’d expected it to bed, but not in an upsetting way. It had been such a short amount of time they’d been properly dating, but by the time they had started their romantic relationship they’d been working and living together for nearly a year, they knew the absolute worst about each other and neither of them cared.

The important thing to her, because Jack was truly an extremely sentimental woman, was that she loved him, the little details didn’t matter because, if she was honest with herself, Geoff was the most important thing to her.

And so, without even thinking about it once she’d come to the realization, she marched herself out of her room, straight up to Geoff, and leaned up on her toes to peck his lips lightly. When he pulled back he smiled at her sceptically. 

“Not that I don’t appreciate the random kisses, but what was that for?” he asked, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her to his chest.

“I just wanted to tell you that I love you” she said softly, looking up into his face. She watched that lazy grin she loved spread across his face as he gently pulled his fingers through her short red curls. 

“I love you too Jackie” he replied, kissing her nose lightly.

When she looked back on that heist, when she’d shot that man for shooting her Geoff, she couldn’t ever muster up remorse for choosing Geoff, and at the same time, she couldn’t even be mad at the man who’d shot him, if it weren’t for that guy they would have stayed in that limbo for who knows how much longer than they already had, and as she nuzzled her face into his neck, she was genuinely almost thankful for that gunshot wound, because it had brought her the most happiness she thought she could ever have.


	2. Gavin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack finds an injured young man in an alleyway and brings him home and into her and Geoff's lives

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has never happened before, I have literally never posted another part so quickly after a previous update, cross your fingers that this lasts folks!

Being half of one of the most notorious crime duos in the city could be exhausting sometimes. Jack and Geoff were planning a series of heists across uptown LS to test their limits. The plan was, case several separate uptown banks and narrow it down to three to hit over the course of around two to three hours. They’d gotten up to two in a day before and were planning to see how far they could go with it. If three worked out in a reasonable amount of time, they would take their fourth runner up bank and try and go after that, just to see what happened.

Jack personally was on bank two of four for her scouting and it was starting to get late, it was mid-May and just about nine, and it was starting to get dark. She had gone out mostly planning to scope out the area around the bank to see if they’d have a good getaway point, she’d been by early in the day to check out the inside by herself, acting as if she had been considering switching banks when she spoke to a teller, mentioned that she was with one of the banks that the King and Queen had hit for good measure to make it seem like she had a good reason to switch. It seemed a good enough candidate for a hit if she could just manage to find a good spot nearby for them to park unnoticed.

She had gotten a text from Geoff asking for an ETA and was about to reply when she heard a groan from the alleyway between the left side of the bank from where she stood and the small café next door. From where Jack stood the mouth of the alley gaped long and dark. She was about to head back down the street to her car when she heard the sound again, it was a quiet groan, long, mid-pitched and full of almost animalistic agony. Thinking it might be an injured animal she moved slowly towards the alleyway, keeping a tight grip on the grip of her gun where it rested pressed into the small of her back in the waistband of her high waisted shorts.

“Who’s there?” she called, keeping her voice level and easy, her heart pounded as she walked closer to the mouth of the alley. It was so dark in the shadows of the building in the quickly darkening twilight and all she could make out was a slumped figure a few feet into the alleyway. She pulled out her phone and turned her flashlight on, keeping the beam steady on the ground to avoid frightening whoever, or whatever, it was that lay just inside the alley.

The figure groaned again, and this time, now so much closer, she could tell the groan was human, more specifically a man’s groan.

“Who are you?” she asked as she slowly entered the alley. The man shifted when her light hit him, and she could barely hold in the gasp that rose in her throat at the small sight of him she got in the thin beam of her phone flashlight.

His legs were long and gangly, his right ankle was twisted in an odd direction, not sharply enough to be broken, she could tell just by looking, but clearly at least strained. His dark jeans were ripped, but he clearly hadn’t bought them that way, and smattered with dirt and blood, there was a large rip at his knee that revealed that he was olive skinned and had recently fallen on that knee as the skin was ripped up and a little bloody. She moved the flashlight further upwards, nurse’s eyes taking in and calculating every aspect of how this boy looked. He was thin, way too thin, his t-shirt hung on him as if it were two sizes too big for him, but she could tell from the wear on it that it must have been a favorite, and must have fit him at some point. It too was ripped and bloodied just as his jeans were, his breathing was steady but shallow as she studied his chest and stomach, and it seemed to hitch every so often, seemingly in pain, she couldn’t know for sure but from the sharp hitch every third breath or so it seemed likely he had an injured rib, at least bruised, possibly broken. The collar of his shirt was crusted with old blood and there was a small gash that looked relatively fresh but unfortunately dirty on his collarbone above where the blood had dried. She kneeled down next to him and shined her flashlight above his head so she could see his face.

He was younger than she’d expected, she noticed first that he had a long, elegant, birdlike nose that was pierced on the left side, and an altogether pleasant face that matched the nose, somewhat regal, but far too thin for comfort, his hair was sandy blond and fell over his forehead and into his eyes, and was matted slightly with blood above his ear on the right side.

“Hey, are you awake?” she asked gently, immediately switching into Nurse Jack, the kid was banged up bad, his beaky nose looked slightly crooked, but she couldn’t tell if it was an old break or a new one, and he had a deep cut above his eyebrow that looked like it was made with the same object that had cut his collarbone. He groaned again and rolled his head towards her, she watched as he swallowed hard and his breath hitched again.

“I’m not gonna hurt you sweetie, but I need to know if you’re awake or not” she said, reaching a hand out and gently placed it on his left hand, which she realized when she touched it, was gnarled at the knuckles of his second joints and the joints that joined finger to hand, and that the skin there was broken and bloodied as well. She looked back up at his face from his hand, and she found herself looking into frightened green eyes. She jumped a little, having not honestly been prepared to see him conscious.

“What happened to you?” she asked softly, pressing a hand lightly to his cheek, helping him keep his head steady and his eyes open.

The boy, and really he was just a boy now that she could really see him, he seemed no older than twenty, if he was that old, opened his mouth as if the speak, but all that came out was a stuttered breath full of pain and genuine terror. Jack steeled herself and stood slowly, so as not to scare him.

“I’m going to help you up, okay? Do you think you can stand on your ankle?” she asked, keeping her voice low and gentle. She watched the boy nod slightly with much effort.

“Can’t put a lot of weight” she heard him say between gasped breaths of pain. She wasn’t sure, but it sounded like he had an accent, but she couldn’t place what it was from the way he’d spoken.

“Alright, just lean on me” she said gently as she slowly hauled him up to his feet, letting him lean his left side heavily against her. The boy was quite tall, at least as tall as her Geoff, she thought, though she couldn’t be sure with the way he was hunched against her.

“My car’s just a little down the block okay? We’re gonna have to walk a couple of minutes, do you think you can handle that?” she asked as she slowly started to move, the boy nodded a bit, and Jack helped him half-limp, half-drag himself the two minute walk down the road to her car. Once they reached it she unlocked the car and gently helped him into the passenger side of the car, and shut the door. She took a long, deep breath and checked her phone quickly, smiling at the alarmed text alerts from Geoff.

_What’s your ETA?_

_Everything okay on your end?_

_Where are you?_

_Are you okay babe?_

_Please text me back_

_What the hell are you doing_

_Jackie please text me back_

_I’m worried_

His worry was sweet, and she texted him quickly back before getting in the car.

_Got sidetracked, getting in the car, ETA is T -20 xx_

She slid into the driver’s side of the car and started it up, and pulled out of her parking space. Next to her, the kid had leaned his seat back a bit and had his eyes closed again. While his breath was still hitching every so often it seemed to be coming in easier than it had been before. The shallowness of his breathing when she’d found him, she now realized, may have been because of his stress just as much as it was about his pain, and looking him over, not that his breathing was steadier, she wasn’t so sure if anything was wrong with his rib, or if he was just in far too much pain.

“You still doing alright?” she asked when they were a few minutes away from the apartment. The kid made a somewhat strangled sound of response that seemed like it was in the affirmative, and that was good enough for Jack. At least he was still conscious enough to respond at all. When she pulled into her parking space outside the brownstone she bit her lip.

How the hell was she going to explain this to Geoff?

She took a steadying breath, toyed nervously with her engagement ring, wondering how angry he’d be at her for taking this risk, and exited the car. She ran around to the right side and helped the kid out of the car.

“It’s alright honey, there’s an elevator inside, you only need to make it into the lobby okay? It’s not far I promise” she said, draping his arm over her shoulders again. He nodded slightly, and she slowly helped him towards the door. She paused to unlock the inside door with her key before dragging the poor kid into the elevator and punched the button for the third floor where her and Geoff’s apartment was. She went over everything in her head as the elevator climbed up to their floor. She’d need to get out the home suture kit, and make sure they had enough rubbing alcohol to disinfect the wounds. He’d need a clean shirt and pants, and she would need to find something to wrap his ankle, and the bed in the spare room probably needed fresh sheets.

The elevator dinged as it’s doors opened onto the third floor, and she helped the boy down the hall to their apartment. She unlocked the door and pulled the boy inside.

“I’m back!” she called into the quiet apartment, toeing her shoes as she pulled the boy towards the kitchen. She was just about to set him down on a kitchen chair when Geoff walked in.

“Jesus Jackie, did you have to go and scare me like that?” he said, more worried than angry. Jack watched as his eyes slid from her down to the boy she’d deposited on the chair, and then back up to her. “Side tracked, huh?” he asked evenly. She knew what that meant. Geoff was livid.

“Someone beat the shit out of this poor kid, I couldn’t just leave him there!” she said, immediately jumping to her own defense “I’m a nurse, first and foremost Geoff! He needs help!”

“You shoulda called 911!” Geoff said, his voice raising. It was rare that Geoff raised his voice in anger, especially at her, which made his outburst all the more jarring.

“And just leave him there? He could have _died_ if I just called an ambulance and left!” she replied, matching his tone “He’s a kid Geoff, I couldn’t leave him alone!”

“He could get us fucking _killed_ babe! If he ran afoul someone bigger than us and they find out you helped him we could be in a whole fucking world of hurt Jack!” his hands flew up to his hair, and he looked hysterical.

Beside her on the chair, the boy groaned.

“I am not having this argument with you right now Geoffrey, this boy needs my help and if you want to lend a hand you can start by making up a soup broth, and if not, you can get out of my fucking kitchen” she said, taking slow deliberate steps towards him, her chest puffed out like a mother bear protecting her cubs. “I am giving you that choice, but if you choose not to help you sleep in the living room tonight Ramsey.” She said simply, and swept out of the kitchen, down the short hallway, and into the bathroom to fetch her sutures and her regular first aid kit.

-

When she bustled her way back into the kitchen Geoff had his back to the kid, but was starting a pot of soup at the stove like she’d asked him too, though she wasn’t sure if it was because he’d actually decided he wanted to help, or if the threat of sleeping on their kinda shitty couch had forced him to help. Frankly, she really couldn’t care at the moment.

She pulled a chair up next to the boy and looked him over again. His hand was very clearly broken, that she could see now in the bright lights in their kitchen. She hated dealing with broken fingers like this, they had clearly begun to heal in their knarled, ripped up state, and that made what she’d have to do all the worse.

“I’m gonna have to rebreak your fingers” she said, keeping her voice steady and gentle “It’s going to hurt a lot while I do it, but once it’s done it won’t be as bad” the kid nodded slightly, swallowing hard. She took his hand and started gently prodding around it. His hand was relatively okay, but his pointer, middle, and ring fingers were badly bent at odd angles.

“Geoff, babe, could you get me my little wooden pastry roller from the drawer?” she asked, glancing over at him, she watched him nod once, and he reached into the drawer by the stove and dug around for it. He pulled it out and brought it over to the table, and handed it to her.

“Need anything else?” he asked, a little gruffly, but not unkindly.

“No thank you baby, I think I’ve got everything now” she said, catching his hand before he could walk away, and pressing a kiss to his palm “Thank you” she wanted to make sure he knew she wasn’t really mad at him over this.

Geoff nodded slightly and leaned down, pressed a kiss to the top of her head, and went back to the stove. Jack turned back to the kid and took a deep breath.

“I need you to open your mouth sweetheart” she said gently, he did as he was told and she fit the rolling pin in between his teeth “When you need to scream bite down on that, hard” she said, and without anymore preamble, she grabbed his hand and started snapping his fingers back into place. It was barbaric, and usually she would have given him some sort of pain killer, but she had no idea when he’d eaten last and she didn’t want to risk giving him anything too strong on an empty stomach.

It took almost a half an hour to get his fingers broken and reset into a configuration that made sense, the poor boy was sweating and panting, and his head was slumped towards his chest. She’d only had to rebreak a bone once or twice when she’d still worked at LS General, but it was always the same, and it always hurt like a mother fucker. When she had his hand set how she wanted it, she began wrapping it up with a bandage to keep them immobile.

“It’ll take a few weeks before they heel properly, but they’re aligned as exactly as I could get them without an x-ray, so they should be alright in the long run” she said. She secured the wrap with a safety pin and reached up, gently pulling the rolling pin from his mouth. “You still with me hun?” she asked, giving his uninjured knee a gentle squeeze. He swallowed with some effort, and raised his head to look at her, eyes a little hazy with pain, but still fully conscious, and nodded. “Good, that’s good” she smiled and patted his knee lightly “Your hand was really the worst of it, I’ll give you a few minutes to recover before we start on your stitches” when he flinched at the idea of more pain to come she gave him an apologetic smile “I know, I’m sorry, but I do have a topical numbing ointment that’ll help with the pain from the stitching, and when the soup Geoff’s making is done we can get you some real pain killers once you’ve eaten.” He nodded stoically and closed his eyes again. Jack smiled slightly to herself - this kid was a real trooper that was for sure - and knelt down to wrap his ankle.

“I’m going to poke around the swelling, let me know if anything hurts more than you think it should” she said, taking his heel into her hand and peeling off a filthy American flag converse sneaker. She started gently pressing in at the joint in different spots, but other than it being generally swollen his ankle seemed alright. She wrapped it tightly with an ace bandage and stood. She turned towards the table and started picking through her little suture kit, trying to find the numbing cream. In her periphery she could see Geoff leaning back against the counter by the stove, just watching her as she worked.

She found the numbing cream and set it on the table top, and pulled on some surgical gloves.  
“Babe, could you get me a warm wet cloth and some peroxide please?” she asked, looking up at Geoff, he nodded slightly and went to run a rag under the warm water from the tap. When it was prepared he handed it to her, and she started to gently mop up the blood and dirt from around the cuts that needed to be stitched up, hoping she could prevent an infection if she got them properly sterilized. Once the debris had been wiped away she started gently patting peroxide into the wounds with a cotton ball for good measure. The boy winced slightly at the sting, but stayed still.

“Alright, I’m going to put the numbing cream on okay? You won’t be able to feel your collarbone or your eyebrow for a few hours, but it’ll keep the stitches from hurting” she said to him gently. She watched him nod a little, and applied the cream. After a few minutes to let the cream start working, she threaded her needle and set to work.

Every so often as she sewed his ragged skin back together he would pull in a sharp breath or let out a gasp that wasn’t quite pained, but wasn’t quite normal either.

The stitching took nearly an hour, she was slow and methodical, and altogether it took around ten stitches to close both wounds, four in his eyebrow, and six in the wound on his collarbone.

“Alright, we’re all done here” she said, peeling her gloves off and gathering up what needed to be disposed of, and packed up her stitching needles to clean up a little later. With the first aid cleared off the table Geoff approached and put a bowl on the table in front of him. The broth was light and had small chunks of vegetables and shredded chicken in it. She looked up at him and smiled, it was the soup he always made when Jack was sick, because it was easy on the stomach while still actually having some kind of nutrients in it.

“Eat as much of that as you can and then we’ll get you to bed” Geoff said simply, all of the gruffness gone from his voice now. He wrapped an arm gently around Jack and kissed her temple lightly. “Bed in the guest room’s all made up still, I can haul him in there when he’s done if you want”

“No, I can do it babe, thank you though” she said, pecking his cheek lightly “I think he’s trusting me, and I don’t want to ruin that by scaring him with you” she teased, grinning. Geoff grumbled something and shook his head, unable to hide the smile that slid across his face.

“Yeah, yeah” he said back, poking at her side lightly.

She was glad he wasn’t upset with her over this anymore. She understood that what she had done was jarring, and not necessarily the safest thing overall, but she was glad to know that Geoff trusted her enough to work with her on this.

-

It took a lot longer than she expected to get the poor kid into the guest room and in bed after he’d eaten as much soup as he could manage. It took them almost five minutes to get from the kitchen down the short hallway to the guest room, which used to be Jack’s room once upon a time, and set him on the bed in there. Then she had to go about stripping him of his dirty, destroyed clothes. She left him sitting on the bed and dashed into her and Geoff’s room, snatching one of Geoff’s worn old Army t-shirts from when he was still in the army, and a pair of sleep pants he never wore anyway, and took them back to the kid, and helped him into them, and with fresh clothes, and carefully tended wounds, she helped him lay down in bed.

It was only after he was settled and she was about to leave, and had given him instructions on where their bathroom was, that she realized she’d never actually introduced herself to him. She gave herself a soft, chiding laugh, and shook her head.

“I’m Jack, Jack Pattillo, the guy out in the kitchen is my fiancé, Geoff Ramsey” she said, standing in the doorway, getting ready to leave.

“Gavin” the boy croaked from the bed, giving her a weak smile “Gavin Free” he said.

“Well Gavin, it’s nice to meet you” she said, giving him a warm smile. She was just about to close the door behind her when she heard him speak again, just loud enough for her to hear without straining himself.

“Thank you for saving my life”

-

“I think the kid’s British” Jack said as she re-entered the kitchen to find Geoff putting the leftover soup away.

“Yeah? He actually said words?” Geoff asked, sounding amused.

“I mean how much would you want to talk around two strangers while you’re in immense pain” she said, walking over to him, leaning up to kiss him lightly. “Thank you for helping Geoff, I know bringing him back here upset you, I know you just want us to stay safe” she said quietly. She couldn’t feel guilty for helping Gavin, but she did feel bad that she had upset Geoff.

“No, it’s okay, I shoulda figured this’d happen at some point, I mean the only reason I even met you was because you feel the need to take care of poor idiots like us” his voice was teasing, and he gave her a tight hug as he spoke, which took away any harshness his words may have carried.

“You sure are an idiot” she said, teasing right back.

“Sometimes I’d be inclined to agree with you” he said, smiling, and pecked the top of her head gently.

“So you’re really not mad?” she asked, looking up at him. She had known this was a bad idea when she was getting the poor kid out of her car, but she really couldn’t have told herself to stop helping Gavin even if she’d wanted to when she’d come across him in the street, no matter how hard she may have tried she would have dragged that stupid kid into her car no matter what.

“No, I’m not” he said, leaning his chin on the top of her head “I was when you brought him in, I was fucking livid, but when you walked out of the kitchen, I realized something” he paused, pressing his nose into her hair.

“And what was that babe?”

“It was that, no matter how angry I was at you for bringing some random kid into our home, he needed you just as much as I do, and I can’t control the fact that there are going to be other people who are going to need your help just as much as he did, and just as much as I did when I first met you” he paused, thinking “You’re an incredible, kind, woman Jack, and I guess tonight I just had to learn that I can’t just keep all that sweetness to myself, no matter how much you bringing in hurt kids scares the shit outta me, cause I know this one kid isn’t gonna be the last one” he hugged her tight and kissed her head lightly “I mean, you went out of your way to help me, and to help him, I’m sensing a bit of a trend here if I’m honest” he said, laughing a little. Jack joined him in his laughter, letting out a short little giggle.

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right” she said, leaning her forehead on his shoulder “And he’s not just some ‘kid’, his name’s Gavin”

“Gavin huh? And you said you think he’s British? What the fuck is that kid doing all the way out here by himself?” Geoff asked absently, rubbing his thumb lightly along her upper arm, leaning his chin on top of her head.

“I dunno babe, but I do plan to find out” Jack said, smiling a little “Once he’s a little better”

“Well, you know I can never resist a mystery, so I’d be happy to find out sooner rather than later” he said lightly.

“We’ll give him a few days before we start interrogating, he can’t be any older than nineteen, he’s gotta be scared out of his fucking mind right now”

“From how you found him, I would be too if I were in his shoes” Jack nodded at what he said, sighing heavily.

“You’re right about that babe” she said softly “You’re definitely right about that”

-

Gavin spent the next few days mostly unconscious in their guest room, and Jack couldn’t blame him, she doubted the kid could remember the last time he’d slept somewhere that felt safe. She’d managed to rouse him a few times a day to get him to take small bits of food and some water, and to check his hand and ankle to make sure they were healing well, but otherwise she and Geoff left him alone to sleep.

It was the third or fourth day - she couldn’t quite remember anymore which it was - around nine in the morning or so, that he finally managed to rouse himself. Jack had already been up for a few hours, she was an early riser by nature, and that had only been solidified in her years as an RN, working from early morning to absurdly late at night, she liked being up as the city woke up, to sit on the balcony with her tea and watch the world go by.

That was where Gavin found her that morning. He’d managed to limp his way into the kitchen and find some Earl Grey teabags amongst Geoff’s coffee grounds and Jack’s multitude of teas, wedged between her favourite herbal tea and a green tea she’d make Geoff drink three days into over planning a heist just to keep him from drinking more coffee. He’d been about to put the kettle on when he realized it was still hot, so he just made himself up some tea with a little bit of milk, and tried to find somewhere peaceful to sit. He had pulled open the sliding glass door to the balcony when he realized Jack was already out there.

“This is the nicest spot in this apartment” she said absently as he stepped outside “You can see the street, which isn’t exactly the nicest view, but our neighbors across the hall open out on the building next door, so it could be worse” she sipped at her tea and looked up at him, giving him a warm smile “Some day though we’ll have an ocean view, Geoff’ll tell you that if you ever ask about the house” she laughed a little, touching her engagement ring lightly with the hand that didn’t hold her mug. “You’re welcome to stick around here to see if we manage it.”

“You’d want me to stay?” he asked, his voice was the strongest it’d been since she’d found him, it was pleasant, mid-toned and posh sounding, Jack wasn’t good at placing accents, but she figure he was probably from somewhere south in England, she’d known a guy at LS General from Northern England and he’d sounded wildly different from Gavin.

“Of course we would sweetie” she smiled and motioned for him to sit down across the little tiny deck table from her “Geoff wouldn’t put up with me dragging you into our home without a good reason”

“But I could put you in danger” he said, brows furrowing as he stared into his tea.

“Geoff and I aren’t strangers to a little bit of danger” she said, smiling “I mean we are criminals after all, a gang of two. But we wouldn’t mind being three, if you’d like”

“I dunno how much I want to get involved again” he muttered, running a finger along the rim of his mug.

“Again?” she asked gently, reaching out to place a hand gently on top of his where it lay on the table.

“It’s why I left England” he said, sighing, he rubbed a hand over his face, hissing softly when he put too much pressure on the wound above his eyebrow “I worked with a gang in London, after I finished high school, my best friend and I moved there for a bit of city life experience, I got caught up by accident, I’d never meant for it to happen, but I was so scared I couldn’t say no” he let out a long, shaky, breath, and took a sip of his tea “I was a negotiator mostly, but I ran off after a deal went as wrong as it could possibly go, I would have been in so much trouble if the leader found me. I bought a plane ticket and told Dan to go home, to get out of London, and I’d call him when I could” he laughed bitterly “I still haven’t and it’s been weeks, he must be worried sick”

“How many weeks?” Jack asked, watching him.

“Three maybe? Could be a month? I don’t really remember exactly, I was exhausted when I got here, I had almost no money, and a British cell phone that wouldn’t work here.” He paused, pinching the bridge of his nose “But I got stupid, because I was starving and desperate, and I got caught trying to pick pocket someone, he was big and with some other guys who looked mean, I don’t remember exactly everything about it, just that one second I was starving, and the next I was in so much pain at least I couldn’t feel the hunger anymore” he shuddered a little, biting his lip hard “I think I’d been in that alley for two or three days before you showed up, a goddamn guardian angel in a Hawaiian shirt” he let out a little laugh, it wasn’t harsh like Jack expected it to be in light of what he’d just told her, but light, not quite happy, but almost “A guardian angel who hauled a kid she’d only just met out of an alley and risked her relationship just to save his life” he looked up at her, green eyes guarded, but no longer filled with pain “And who’s willing to keep risking shit for some dumb kid”

“We were all dumb kids once” she said smoothly “Everyone, no matter who they are, was a stupid kid at one point or another, I know I was” she shook her head at herself slightly “When my parents favoured my little brother over me at every turn I got reckless, I broke my arm, my ankle, and my wrist, all over the course of six months just to get their attention” she shrugged a bit “You’re what? Eighteen? No one’s done making mistakes by eighteen, hell, Geoff and I are pushing thirty and we still make stupid mistakes sometimes”

“I’m nineteen” he said, almost defensively, but mostly as a joke.

“Nineteen’s still young, you’re just a kid now, it’ll get easier” she said “And, until it does, Geoff and I are happy to have you here, he and I have talked about it, and we’ve both agreed we could use a third, if you’re willing to stay” she said, she didn’t want to get her hopes up, it was still fully his choice whether he stayed, and as much as she wanted him too, he wasn’t her kid, she had no reason to expect him to stay.

“I think I’d be glad too” he said after they’d spent a long time in silence, sipping at their tea “I was good at what I did, and I liked it, for the most part, I liked doing events to, to size up a target, and I liked the freedom I had doing it” he swallowed hard “Which is pretty horrifying isn’t it?” Jack just smiled at the question.

“Not as bad as me, I was just in it for the money, and really, now, I’m in it for Geoff, I want to see his stupid ass safe after heists” she paused, and gently put her hand on top of his “And I want to see you safe too. No matter what, you never have to be afraid that Geoff and I will get mad at you for something out of your control.”

“It was in my control though” he mumbled.

“But it wasn’t. Outside factors, the other side of the deal being shady, those are never your fault, I mean, I shot a guy in the wrist once because we’d miscalculated the kind of people who used a certain bank, and he shot Geoff, that guy having a gun was out of our control, and it ruined our streak of leaving civilians physically safe, but it wasn’t either of our faults that Geoff got shot, it just happened. And whatever it was that made you leave England, it was out of your control, you are nineteen, and you were a negotiator, someone getting hurt during your negotiating, is not your fault”

“I guess you’re right” he said, letting out a big sigh “You promise you won’t get mad?”

“The only times I’ll ever get mad is if you’re late for dinner, or you get yourself hurt doing something stupid and avoidable, and even then, that won’t be real anger, just fright disguised as anger” she smiled “But don’t tell Geoff, if he knew that, I’d, one, never live it down, and, two, he’d stop avoiding getting hurt in stupid ass ways” that got Gavin to laugh, a real one, loud and happy, with a wide grin to go with it.

“Your secret’s safe with me”

“Good, and you’d better take it to your grave kid” she said, grinning at him.

They stayed outside for a little while longer before Jack noticed that Gavin was obviously starting to look a little drained, so she stood, picked up their mugs, and led him back inside to his room. She ordered him to take a little nap, and if he felt up to it, she and Geoff usually had lunch together around noon or so, and he was free to join them.

It was after she’d gotten him back into bed, and was walking out the door that she realized something.

When she’d told herself earlier that he wasn’t her kid, she’d been wrong, he may not have been hers by blood, but by deciding to stay with her and Geoff he really had become their kid.

A kid that’d have Geoff going grey in no time.

-

It took another few weeks before Gavin was able to functionally get around the house on his own. His ankle injury had just been a sprain, but it was a bad one, and it was awhile before Gavin could put weight on it without favoring it. It seemed to Jack though, that he was no stranger to joint injuries, even though it took some time for him to be able to walk with even weight on both feet, she could see just from the way that he moved around that this was not his first time with a strained ankle, and he knew exactly how to favour it without causing discomfort to his other leg. The boy was an utter mystery.

And yet, she didn’t want to ask him about his background, he’d sounded so frightened, so utterly horrified with himself, when he’d told her why he’d left England, and she didn’t want him to feel pressured into giving him her whole life story. But still, she was curious.

He carried himself with an ease that was almost loose limbed in it’s motion, long strides and arms swinging, she wondered briefly if it were just because of his height, but he was only about an inch taller than Geoff, and Geoff moved much differently, he was slower, more deliberate, he had a destination and he wasn’t stopping until he got there, but Gavin, it was like everywhere he went would be an adventure, a skip in his step (once he could actually put weight on his foot), and an ease of movement that gave no signs that he was in a hurry. It was mesmerizing, he moved like waves on a beach, and Jack just could not figure out why. She’d known plenty of boys throughout her life with a similar build and height to Gavin, tall and thin, but none had moved like that.

It wasn’t until the very first time they took him on a heist that she began to come to a conclusion on what it was that made this boy so different from Geoff.

They’d settled on Prince for him for now, as his codename, it was a nice fit for their motif that Gavin was happy to play along with, as he had always been one for the dramatic, something he couldn’t have hidden if he’d tried to, and he hadn’t, in fact he had a flair for it. Hidden deep in the bottom of a backpack he’d stashed shortly before he was jumped, that he and Jack had gone to retrieve, were several pieces of jewelry that must have cost a fortune. There were a few rings, all shining yellow gold with stones that glittered pink, white, and pale blue in the sunlight and put Jack’s engagement ring to shame with just how over the top they were (not that it mattered to her, she loved her ring, it was plain and silver, with a small white stone, and had King engraved inside it, and was just right for her), besides the rings there were gold chains, diamond earrings that glittered like stars in any light, even the shitty fluorescent bulbs in their kitchen at home where he’d shown them to her, and a pair of small white gold hoops. These hoop earrings were presented to Jack as a thank you, one that she wasn’t sure she could accept.

“They were my Nan’s once” he’d told her when she’d opened the box “My great-nan gave them to her as her ‘something old’ on her wedding day, she’d gotten them from my great-grandad as a fifteenth wedding anniversary gift. He’d passed away a few years before Nan got married, and great-nan thought it’d be nice for her to have something from great-grandad on her wedding day since he wasn’t there” Jack had tried to give them back, had thanked him for the sweet story, but he’d pressed them back into her hands and said “My Nan gave them to me when I was sixteen, she was the most important person in the world to me, she’d never wanted to give them to my mum, her daughter, because, well, my mum is a selfish brat who wouldn’t have given them the love they deserve, but she knew I would. They were a birthday gift, but she passed away a few months after that, she’d been hiding an illness from the family, she didn’t want us to remember her as sick.” He’d paused at that, misty eyed “I think she gave them to me to save them from my mum and her siblings fighting over them, and that she intended for me to give them to my kids, however she thought they’d happen, but I want you to have them. You saved my life Jack, and my Nan would’ve loved you, you are exactly the kind of person I think she’d wished my mum would be.” He’d made Jack close her hands around the small emerald green velvet box, and squeezed her hands tightly in his “I have a feeling you’re going to be just as important to me as she was, and I want to thank you for everything you’ve done for me, and everything I know you will do, because you’re an incredibly kind person, and my Nan would have loved you” he’d taken his hands away from hers then, and pulled her into a tight hug “I could never thank you enough for saving my life, but at least I can start by giving you these.”

By the time they were getting their shit together for their first heist with Gavin it’d been nearly two weeks and she hadn’t taken them off once. Like her engagement ring, those hoops were far too important to her to ever part with, a token of real, pure, affection from a sweet kid she’d only known for a month.

The first heist with Gavin, with Los Santos’ King and Queen’s new young Prince, was very nearly a disaster.

The dynamic was extremely different from just the two of them. When it was just Jack and Geoff, it had been so easy to just walk in unnoticed, they could pretend to be a couple just running errands, but with a third, it was trickier. The first job they planned with Gavin they hadn’t been sure how to go in, they’d gone in together as a small group, and instead of acting like normal people they went in specifically obvious, masks already on, and ready to go.

It wasn’t the best plan they could have come up with.

Jack had gone out to the vault with Geoff, and they’d left Gavin up front to get the tills and keep an eye out for anything that could go wrong.

She and Geoff had been out back for about ten minutes when they’d heard sirens blaring down the street, and had come running back out to the lobby of the bank. Gavin stood by the counter, eyes hard and angry behind his mask. One of the tellers had somehow managed to set off a silent alarm while another had been filling Gavin’s bag.

“We need to move now” Geoff hissed at him, it seemed like Gavin had almost frozen in place. When he heard the harshness of Geoff’s voice he moved into action, his eyes whipped around the upper level, looking for something.

“You go out the front, get to the car, I’ll meet you out there, we’ve got maybe a minute till the cops show up at the doors” he said stiffly, Jack was about to object when Geoff butted in.

“We need to go now” he said, his voice hard and calculating.

“I’ll meet you out there, two people in the Queen’s car’ll be less suspicious than three after what happened, just get out to the car, I’ll meet you in a minute” Gavin replied, and before anyone else could argue he sprinted up the stairs to the second floor. Jack and Geoff shared a quick look before they took off out the door and down the block to Jack’s car.

They’d only just managed to shove the bags in the trunk and get in the car when the first cop car pulled up.

The cop got out, looked around at the busy street, frowned, and went inside the bank.

It was then that Jack saw him.

Gavin was suspended from someone’s balcony across an alleyway from the bank. His bag was tied to his beltloop, and he was hauling himself up with sheer upper body strength.

“Geoff look” she said, eyes wide at the sight of him.

“Look where?”

“At the balcony next door to the bank, just look” she said urgently. Geoff did, looking sceptical, until he too caught sight of Gavin.

“Jesus fucking Christ” he said, keeping his voice low “How the hell is he gonna get down from there?”

Before Jack could say anything in answer to Geoff she watched in amazement as Gavin started to swing himself, gaining momentum, and, with some awkwardness, flung himself onto the window ledge a little ways away from the balcony’s rail. He caught himself with practiced ease, and, in this odd way, he managed to get to the ground. He nearly stumbled when he hit the ground, but didn’t allow himself time to think, and just sprinted towards Jack’s car. He got there, and managed to throw himself into the backseat just as the second cop car showed up.

“Think it’s time to get out of here, don’t you two?” he said from where he lay across the backseat. Jack didn’t hesitate, and pulled away from the curb as calmly as she could manage.

-

“So what the hell was that back there?” Geoff asked once they were back home safe. He didn’t look angry, he clearly didn’t blame Gavin for the silent alarm, and that clearly wasn’t what he was asking about, but Gavin, still raw from whatever mistake forced him to leave his home, flinched slightly at Geoff’s words and hung his head, avoiding looking at either of them.

“I’m sorry, I should’ve seen what she was doing, but I didn’t realize there was another panic button away from the till, and the other teller was still listening, and she didn’t show any sign of knowing what her coworker was doing” he said, explaining himself after taking a deep, measured, breath.

“I don’t think that’s what Geoff wanted to know sweetie” Jack said, placing a hand gently on his arm “We’ve all made mistakes on heists, what the teller did was beyond any of our control. I think what Geoff was asking about was your little acrobatics act when we were leaving”

“Oh, that” he paused, biting his cheek “I used to do gymnastics in high school, it’s come in handy for a lot of situations in the past, I’d seen the balcony when we’d gone in, and noticed a window near it as we were getting ready to leave, I figured I could make it out easier that way, and it’d be less suspicious for you guys” he shrugged a bit, looking up at her “It was harder than I thought it’d be, I guess I’m a bit rusty”

“It was fucking incredible is what it was!” Geoff exclaimed, he looked utterly shocked. Jack had only fleetingly told him about Gavin’s issues from his previous crew, and he obviously hadn’t been expecting that strong of a reaction to what he thought was a completely reasonable question.

Gavin’s brows drew together in confusion, as if he couldn’t quite believe the praise, let alone that it was him receiving it.

“You really think so?” he asked, sounding almost stricken in his confusion.

“Of course I do! You fucking Spidermanned down the side of a goddamn apartment building with a bag full of cash tied to your beltloop! It was fucking impressive!” Geoff said, brows raised in surprise that Gavin couldn’t understand why he was so impressed.

“It really was incredible Gavin, I’ve never seen someone move like that” Jack said honestly, she had been completely mesmerized by how he’d just hopped down the side of a building as if it were what his body was made to do.

-

They’d gotten a pretty tidy sum from that bank robbery once it was all said and done, enough to put a security deposit on a new apartment up in midtown she and Geoff had had an eye on for awhile. It wasn’t much, it was two bedrooms like their current place, but the living space and kitchen were much bigger, and weren’t completely separate rooms from each other. That had been one thing Jack had missed about her old place, it’d had more of an open concept, and she liked to watch the news when she cooked, to help her stay up on current events and celebrity nonsense. This new place though, she could have that back, and there’d be more space for the three of them to spread out, they were hoping to use the extra bedroom as an office, but with Gavin they couldn’t do that anymore, and that was just fine. The important thing was that midtown was nicer, it was safer, their downtown, south side brownstone was in one of the worst crime areas the city boasted, not to mention it was practically falling apart and their rent was still well over a thousand bucks a month. The new place was only a little more expensive, but a thousand times more worth the price tag.

Their lease would start at the beginning of September, when all was said and done, Gavin’s first heist out of the way, and their security deposit paid, it was early July, so they’d have to wait a little while, but that was fine by Jack, knowing she could get her boys out of that godforsaken apartment for good soon enough. Geoff had never been very attached to it, and Gavin hadn’t been there long enough to really care.

“The new place reminds me a little of the flat I had in London” he said after they’d gone for the last little showing before signing the papers “Nice and clean with big windows, my B and I would get takeaway and sit on the balcony or play video games most nights, he couldn’t have afforded the place without me, and I was happy to be there, my parents sucked and I hated it back home, being with B in that flat was one of the best times of my life” By then he’d called his B, Dan, and assured him that he was safe, that all was well and he’d just run into a snag in getting a new phone or finding a spot to borrow one. When Dan had seemingly questioned him about what he was doing Gavin had avoided the question somewhat, he’d assured Dan he was safe again before telling him about Jack and Geoff. It had been just before his first heist when he had still been healing, he had been with Jack and Geoff for two weeks or so and had been utterly terrified of calling Dan and telling him what had happened, but he couldn’t just let Dan keep waiting for a call, wondering if he were dead or not.

“I promise I’m safe B” he’d said “I’m with this fantastic woman and her fiancé, they’re taking good care of me B, I promise, maybe you can come visit soon, if you give us a bit of time we can definitely get the money together to fly you out and back home” there was a long pause on Gavin’s end as he listened to Dan talk, and then he’d pulled his phone away and looked at Jack “He says he wants to talk to you” Gavin had held his phone out to her and she had taken it with a nervous hand, and put the phone to her ear.

“Hello?”

“You the woman who’s got my B?” the voice on the other end had said, it was a gruffer, less posh, version of Gavin’s accent, but hearing him speak she understood why Gavin’s H’s always disappeared when he got upset, it was because of Dan’s influence.

“Yes, I am, my name’s Jack”

“Well Jack, I’m Dan, and I know Gavin is hiding something from me so I want the truth from you, because I know he won’t give it to spare my feelings” Dan’s voice was tight an serious, but not because he was upset with Jack, she knew that, it was like that because he was worried about Gavin “What happened to him?”

Jack paused and looked up at Gavin, before gently shooing him from the room with a gesture.

“When I found him he’d had the shit beat out of him for something. I don’t know what happened but he was in really bad shape, his ankle was messed up and I had to break his fingers because they’d been broken once and started healing wrong. He really is okay now, he’s banged up still but the worst of it has started to heal” she’d told him. There had been a long pause before Dan had spoken, and then he’d been less gruff, his voice a bit quieter.

“He’s going to be alright?” he’d asked finally, his voice laced with worry.

“He is, one-hundred percent fine. His fingers are gonna be a little bit gnarled for the rest of his life, but he can use his hand just as well as he could before, if I hadn’t found him he’d never be able to use his hand again, that is if he didn’t…” Jack had trailed off, she hadn’t even wanted to think of the possibility of what would have happened to him if she hadn’t found him when she did.  
“Good, good, I’m glad he’s not lying about being alright, he always was a good liar” Dan’s voice wasn’t bitter, it was almost joking when he’d said that “Don’t let him get away with that with you, he’ll try it, but don’t you let him” Jack had smiled then.

“I won’t, promise. I can’t make any promises for Geoff though, bless his heart the man is too easy to persuade” Dan had laughed at that, and Jack had laughed with him.

“Well, tell him to keep that in mind. And both of you take good care of him, I expect him to be in one piece when I come to visit”

“We’ll do our best, but you know how he is, I’m sure you were there for his broken nose, you can’t stop him if he really gets it stuck in his head.”

“You’ve got that right Jack. We’ll talk soon, but could you put me back on with him?” and she had. It hadn’t been the last time they’d spoken to Dan either, in fact he called and Skyped regularly, and they always made time for it. There were tentative plans to have him come down at Christmas time for a visit after Jack and Geoff’s wedding, because the following months would be busy with finalizing that and packing and moving into the new apartment, not to mention they were planning a few jobs and meeting with some business associates and friends of Geoff’s for any small jobs they may need done but kept away from them. As much as they wanted to meet Dan in person, it would be far too busy, and far too dangerous for him to come just yet.

-

Geoff had had a previous association with the Roosters and had stayed friends with them after he’d stopped working with them, a few of his smaller jobs had been for them in the beginning, and they were eager to meet Gavin after his little acrobatics trick had gotten to them. Burnie and the others already knew Jack and Geoff were the King and Queen, Burnie could clock a Geoff job a mile away with even the shittiest of descriptions, and he’d met Jack before she’d joined in with Geoff when she’d still worked at the ER and was doing patch up jobs for gangs on the side, and they were fascinated with this new boy, Los Santos’ new little Prince with incredible skills from the get-go. They were so fascinated by him that Gavin’s second job had been offered up by Burnie.

It would be pretty easy, he was asking them to carry out a hit on a powerful business man who was dipping too far into the gang world, unfairly, for their tastes. Jack and Geoff had had some dealings with him, and he didn’t play fair. His people came in with big guns and demands when it came time to ‘negotiate’, and he refused to budge, he took what he wanted and gave back little in return. Jack and Geoff were happy to take it on, but it made Gavin a little nervous. He had only been a negotiator back in London, his charisma and natural golden tongue had been his best quality there, but here, with Jack and Geoff, it wasn’t all he was good for and he needed to learn the ropes when it came to other types of jobs.

However, his easy lies and pretty words would work out quite well for this job.

They would be attending an art exhibition uptown to work this job. The business man, a guy by the name of Barnes, was a frequent patron of that art gallery, and it was confirmed that he was on the guest list. All three of them would be going, but it was put to Gavin to do the actual hit. Barnes was particularly fond of pretty, young men, and Gavin fit very well into his preferences. Jack and Geoff would be going with him as backup, just in case something went wrong.

The night of the exhibition all three were dressed to the nines. They’d gotten Gavin in with a tailor, and he was wearing a navy three-piece suit that brought out the blueish flecks in his green eyes and made him look a little older than he really was. He was bedecked in his usual array of gold and jewels, and had perched a set of golden framed aviators on his birdlike nose to complete the look. Jack wore a black silk cocktail dress that hugged her curves along with a string of pearls Geoff had given her as a gift for her one year anniversary working with him, and of course her engagement ring and the earrings Gavin had given her, as well as a pair of black red-bottomed pumps that were, to Gavin’s surprise, real Louboutins that Jack had bought for the wedding (and other special occasions), and she wore her hair loose and curly (after having had a long, somewhat heated, conversation with Gavin about what on earth she should do with it). Geoff wore the same suit he had worn the night of the first party casing he had taken Jack on, it was his best, and he’d figured it would do just fine, he’d shaved his seemingly ever present almost-beard in favour of the handlebar moustache he was attempting to grow, and had let Gavin meticulously cover the tattoos on his hands with makeup to keep their little group as discreet as possible during the party. Everyone in the city knew that Los Santos’ King had tattoos on his hands.

The whole affair was distasteful in Jack’s opinion, it was overindulgent and frankly obnoxious. The people there were too rich for their own good and bragged about the ways their businesses cuts costs to keep their profit margins high, and bragged about how they cheated on their wives with pretty young things, and bragged about a hundred other obnoxious things that only the horrifically wealthy could even find braggable.

Gavin had detached himself from them shortly after they had entered, and began mingling around, they kept a close eye on him, and remained near enough to hear his conversations, listening to him spin lies about his job and his life, where he came from, what he was doing in the US and et cetera.

It took no more than a half an hour before word reached Barnes about the pretty blond boy with the English accent and a penchant for compliments. He approached him and drew Gavin off into a corner near the bar, offered to buy him a drink, stood a little too close to him. Jack and Geoff approached the opposite end of the bar to keep an eye on him, they ordered drinks they wouldn’t drink, and kept close watch on him.

Gavin was playing it up, looking cute and innocent, his smile was lopsided and flirtatious, and he was clearly involved in the conversation. Jack and Geoff sat at the bar with their drinks, chatting softly with each other to retain an image of normalcy to avoid drawing suspicious eyes to the two silent people in a loud room.

After ten minutes or so, Barnes had drained his drink and turned to order another, his conversation with Gavin lulled for a moment, and in that moment Gavin shot a look at the two of them, he looked determined, and gave them a little nod.

He needed a distraction.

Jack glanced around quickly, and couldn’t find anything nearby that might work, so she’d just have to do it herself. She picked up her drink and moved towards the two with purpose, before she faked tripping and threw her drink all over the back of Barnes. He turned in surprise and Jack’s hands flew to her mouth and her eyes widened to match her charade.

“Oh my gosh, I am so sorry!” she exclaimed once he was turning to look at her and not Gavin “I’m so clumsy, I shouldn’t have worn these heels!” she said apologetically, grabbing a napkin off the bar “Here, give me your jacket I might be able to get some of my champagne out. God am I sorry” The whole exchange had taken less than a minute but in that time Gavin had slipped a small packet out of his sleeve, tipped it into Barnes’ drink, and had disposed of the plastic before Barnes could even respond.

“It’s alright” he said, pulling his jacket off, sighing a bit “It’s an old jacket anyway, don’t worry about it sweetheart” he said “No harm done”

“I really am sorry” she said, still pretending to give a shit about the prick’s jacket. Barnes ignored the second apology though, and turned back to Gavin, she rolled his eyes behind his back and turned on her heel, striding back towards Geoff.

“Is it done?” Geoff asked when she approached. Jack looked back over her shoulder and watched as Barnes laughed at something Gavin said, picked up his drink, and took a long drink from it.

“He’s as good as outta here” she said, and ordered another drink.

-

They waited around for another half hour or so after Barnes had taken his first sip. He’d drained his glass in fifteen minutes and now they were waiting for the slow-acting poison to do its work. Gavin had excused himself to the washroom just after Barnes had finished his drink and he had yet to return. Jack was just starting to wonder if what Gavin had given him were going to work when suddenly Barnes looked stricken, he coughed, put a hand to his throat, tried to clear it, and then, put a napkin to his lips, and coughed again. Even from where Jack stood, she could see the flecks of blood on the napkin.

“I think that’s our cue to leave” she mumbled to Geoff, nodding subtly to Barnes. Geoff gave her a quick nod, glanced at Barnes, and then set his glass down on the table.

“Looks like our clock’s struck midnight, now let’s see if Cinderella made it out to the car” he replied, and offered his arm to her, Jack gave him a small smile and slid her arm through his.

“Let’s go make sure our boy is alright”

They walked out to the car in silence, maneuvering through the busy parking lot, and found Gavin leaning against the back passenger door of Jack’s car, he looked a little bit shaky, but not as bad as she’d expected.

“You okay?” Geoff asked when they reached him. Gavin gave a short nod, looking a little unsure. There was a long silence and then finally he shook himself, took a deep breath, and spoke.

“He was a right bastard” he said finally “Kept bragging about how he was gonna take over the underground from under our noses, jokes on him I suppose, because the underground took him right under his own” his tone was neutral, but not in any way that Jack could tell he’d been upset by what had happened.

“And you’re sure you’re okay with what had to be done?” she asked as they got into the car.

“Yeah, yeah I am, I wasn’t sure at first but once I got talking to the prick, you could tell he deserved it. He kept eyeing my drink up whenever I put it on the bar for more than a second” Jack saw him shake his head in the rear view mirror “I think if I hadn’t gotten him he’d’ve slipped me something himself” he said after a short pause “Kept touching his coat pocket whenever he looked at my drink, I never took my eyes off him or the drink, but if I had, I’m not sure I’d have made it out of there with the job done”

“A hit’s not an easy task, even for someone like that” Geoff said, turning around in his seat to look at Gavin “This time wasn’t so bad because the guy really felt like he deserved it. I can only hope we don’t end up working any jobs where we can’t identify whether they deserve it or not.”

“I suppose only time will tell” Gavin said smoothly. The rest of the drive was quiet, but it felt easy, content, there was no stress in it as there had been on the drive in to the venue, now it was only calm, a calm that would follow them into the apartment and carry them right through until they all retired to bed, which was just fine by her.

Jack appreciated a job well done, and she was incredibly proud of Gavin for how easily he’d carried the job out, and how well he’d worked the scene, and the target.

He was proving her right at every turn, and he was turning out to be an amazing addition to their little crime family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the in-betweens of chapters you can follow me over on Tumblr as sathtrash and watch me spiral into insanity over this AU


	3. Michael

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new member joins the crew, Jack and Geoff get married, and Jack and her boys celebrate their first Christmas as a family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a little over a month, but I was in the midst of finals and papers and dying the week after I last posted, and then I've been working way the fuck too much since.  
> Anyway, Merry Goddamn Christmas, enjoy!  
> (Also be aware, that about halfway through this chapter their is a brief discussion of improper binding, transphobia (not by any crew members though to be clear), and following that discussions of trans male transitioning, so if you feel you could be triggered by this it begins when Jack pulls Michael into the bathroom and the discussion of transphobia is brief and begins with Michael discussing his family, and ends with Jack reassuring him of his safety with the crew. Talk of bad binding sort of threads through the rest of the scene, and ends at the next - break. And if ya gonna get transphobic over his transition in my comments ya gettin banned. I have always headcanoned fahc Michael as being trans and I will fight your ass if you try to start shit. Okay, be safe, feel free to skip over the bit about Michael's binding if you need to, I love you, bind safely)

Jack was leaving the Rooster’s current safehouse when he approached her. Burnie had called her after they had gone through a particularly difficult run in with the cops and Matt had taken a bullet to his calf getting into their getaway car. He would be alright, but only if they were to seek medical attention, and they weren’t able to go to a hospital for fear of being arrested, so they’d called Jack and asked her to meet them at their safehouse.

The particular safehouse was only a fifteen minute drive away from their new midtown apartment, so it was easy for Jack to change into a pair of scrubs leftover from her nursing days, and pack up her emergency medical kit with all the essentials for treating bullet wounds and take off. That would be a bizarre necessity in anyone’s life, but in hers it was simply routine. They’d had very few incidences of gunshot wounds in their own heists, Geoff had gotten one or two small nicks here and there after the first bad one on the first heist they reversed roles, and Gavin was notorious for getting every injury under the sun while still somehow avoiding bullets, she’d once watched him trip and crack a rib while dodging a bullet, but it was still a good thing to have around, just in case.

It had taken nearly two hours to make sure Matt’s wound would heal alright, it hadn’t struck an artery, but it had been bleeding badly and Matt had been in and out of consciousness during the whole procedure. Once she’d stopped the bleeding it needed ten stitches, five on either side of the wound, and a lot of careful attention to make sure that both sides were properly sanitized and that the bullet had left the wound relatively without shrapnel.

She had left Burnie with careful instructions on how to care for the wound, and make sure that it healed properly, before she had rushed out of the house to head back home. She wanted to tell Geoff to his face that his friend would be alright, she didn’t feel it would be appropriate to text him or call him about it. Better to give him an update in person than to do it electronically.

She had made it less than five minutes up the road to where she’d parked her car when a figure detached itself from the wall and began to approach her. Jack glanced at the figure out of the corner of her eye, her hand shifting to one of the pockets in her scrub pants, gripping the handle of the knife in her pocket like her life depended on it, and turned to look at the figure. It was tall, taller then her as she had to look up to try and make out the outline of the face.

“Can I help you with something? I haven’t got any change if that’s what you’re after” she said, keeping her voice from shaking. She was a criminal for Christ’s sake! What did she have to be scared of? She was on the fucking wanted list for LSPD and on her way to the FBI wanted list! She was a high profile criminal, and here she was, nervous of being approached by a shadowy figure late at night.

“You Jaclyn Pattillo?” the figure asked, the voice was somewhat high pitched, accented and almost feminine, and before Jack could reply, the figure cleared their throat, and asked again “You Pattillo?” and this time their voice was lower, more masculine, still carrying the same East coast accent, but more sure of itself.

“Yes, that’s me” she said, taking a slow step back into the circle of the street lights just behind her. The figure followed her, stepping into visibility at the edge of the circle of light.

The person before her was tall, as she’d already observed, and somewhat baby-faced with a mass of curly, badly cut brown hair with a grey beanie mashed on top of it, trying to hide the awkward cut. There was something about the way this boy held himself that made Jack give him a curious look, and study him more sharply.   
“Is there something I can help you with?” she asked, watching as the boy, who looked only a little older than her Gavin, or perhaps around the same age, his face had that sense of agelessness to it, where a person could look both 17 and 30 all at once, but the way he was dressed made her skew younger, stepped closer to her. He had on an oversized graphic t-shirt with Link from _Legend of Zelda_ on it, and plain jeans and converse sneakers, and a brown leather jacket zipped about halfway up. He noticed Jack’s keen eyes studying him and zipped his jacket further up.

“Yeah, I think there is” he said, but didn’t elaborate.

“What’s your name kid?” Jack asked, brown eyes squinted down at her, she couldn’t tell if it was confusion or if the boy needed glasses. Maybe both. And then his face softened a little and he spoke.

“Michael” He said, and Jack watched his eyebrows contort in surprise at his own statement “Michael Jones” he repeated more firmly.

“Well, as you know, I’m Jacklyn Pattillo” she said, offering him a hand to shake, which he took “And if you want my help you need to be willing to get in my car with me” Michael grunted something that sounded like it was in the affirmative, and nodded slightly. He hiked his backpack up on his shoulder, and somewhat nervously fixed his beanie on his head.

“Yeah, okay” he said finally, nodding to himself.

“Alright” Jack said back “If you wanna just follow me, I need to call my fiancé and let him know what’s going on” she said, and started walking, she could hear Michael’s sneakers scuffing along the pavement behind her, and she felt reassured knowing he really was following her.

At the car she pulled her phone out her the pocket of her scrubs and dialed Geoff’s number.

“Hey babe, how’s Matt?” Geoff asked when he picked up, sounding somewhat anxious.

“He’ll be alright, the bullet wound was clean and he didn’t lose much blood, it was just in a painful spot, he’ll be up and walking soon enough” she said, she hadn’t wanted to tell him on the phone, but she should have known he’d ask the second she called him.

“Okay good, that’s good” he said, and she could practically hear him falling back against the sofa “Are you on your way home?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m just about to get into the car” she said, she paused for a second before she spoke again “I found a kid” she said lowly, Michael stood on the other side of the car from her, near the passenger door where she was by the trunk on the driver’s side, it wasn’t that she didn’t want him to hear, but she wasn’t sure what Geoff’s reaction would be.

There was a long pause on Geoff’s end, and then a heavy sigh before he spoke.

“He need your help?” he asked finally, he didn’t sound upset, just resigned.

“I think so” she said, worrying at her lip “He’s not beat up like Gav was, but I think he needs some help otherwise”,

“He’s not like nuts, is he?” Geoff asked, sounding concerned.

“No Geoff, and even if he was suffering from something mental that’s very rude of you to say” she admonished, putting a hand on her hip even though he couldn’t see her.

“Yeah, you’re right Jackie, sorry” Geoff muttered “But how do you think he needs help?”

“He told me he did” she said “He sought me out babe, I really think he needs me” she said, glancing over at Michael.

“Alright, I’ll set up the cot in Gav’s room, just bring him home” he said “We’ll have to order another bed for that room tomorrow or something” he added on as an afterthought, not even seeming to say it on Jack’s behalf, Geoff was already open to her bringing home another stray to keep, so to speak.

“I’m about to get in the car now babe, eta is T minus-twenty, I’ll see you in a bit” she said, glancing over at the kid.

“Alright Jackie, I’ll see you soon” he said, and she could hear him moving to get up on his end to go get the cot set up.  
“Love you babe” she said quickly, smiling to herself.

“Love you too, be safe”

“I will” she said, and they hung up.

Jack pulled her keys out of her pocket and clicked the button to unlock the doors, and went to the driver’s door. She glanced over the top of the car at Michael and nodded at him slightly.

“Door’s unlocked, you can get right in” she said, offering him a slight smile, trying to make him feel more comfortable with her presence. He grunted slightly in some sort of affirmative tone, and got in on the passenger’s side, and Jack slid in just after.

With seat belts buckled, Jack pulled away from the curb, and headed back up midtown, and towards home.

-

The drive home was silent. Michael didn’t speak, he sat in the passenger seat with his arms crossed over his chest, staring out the window the whole way. Jack tried to make small talk at first, asked him where he was from, how he’d found himself in Los Santos, and etc, but he didn’t reply, he just sat there and remained quiet.

Jack gave up after the third question he refused to answer, and just drove in silence.

This was nothing like when she’d brought Gavin home, he had been silent because he’d been in so much pain, but Michael didn’t seem to be hurt at all, and yet he didn’t speak after his initial agreement to go with her.

Well. He didn’t _look_ hurt, she knew from coaxing more of Gavin’s story out of him that there were far more ways to be hurt than physically.

When they pulled up outside the apartment she parked in her spot next to Geoff’s truck, and turned the car off.

“So, I’m going to just give you a quick warning, my fiancé is up in the apartment with another boy, you don’t need to be nervous or anything, they both know you’re coming” she said. She waited for a response, and Michael just grunted, but she noticed a nervous look in his eyes. “Let’s head in then” she said cheerfully and got out of her car. Michael followed her to the door, and she headed inside, unlocking the inner door with her key, and marching to the elevator, she could hear the squeak of his sneakers on the floor behind her or else Jack wouldn’t have known Michael was following her. She punched the button for the fourth floor once Michael was in, and caught sight of herself in the mirrored walls of the elevator.

She hadn’t realized how bloody her scrubs were after treating Matt. God, maybe that was it, Michael had seen the blood on her once they were in that streetlight, and she’d spooked him.

But when she glanced over at him she thought differently.

Because in proper lighting she could see the way he was squinting. It reminded her of herself as a teenager when she realized she needed glasses. He was staring up at the little lighted floor numbers as the elevator moved up, lids squinted close together, trying to read what it said she assumed. It was exactly how she remembered looking at things before she’d gotten her glasses. Now she primarily wore contacts, except while reading in bed, and sometimes around the house, but she recalled the feeling well, eye strain from not being able to see properly, headaches from the constant squinting, frustration with how blurry the whole world was.

It was yet another subject she’d have to broach once she was changed out of her scrubs and could assure Michael that she and her family were trustworthy.

When the elevator dinged at the fourth floor and the doors opened, she stepped out, and glanced back at Michael, watching the delay in his movement when he noticed that she had stepped off.

“Our apartment’s at the end of the hall, if you plan on sticking around you’ll need to let us know asap so Geoff and I can order you a new bed and let our landlord know that we’ve got a fourth” she said casually as she led him down the hall.

“You’d want me to stay?” Michael’s voice was quiet, soft and unsure. Jack turned around to look at him and gave him a warm smile.

“Of course we would sweetie, if you want to stick around that is” Michael nodded slowly as she spoke, not committing to anything just yet, which she completely understood.

They reached the door to their apartment and she unlocked it quickly, and led Michael inside. She found Geoff and Gavin in the kitchen, chatting casually over some tea. Geoff looked tired and drawn, she knew it was from the stress of his friend’s injury, but even though she knew Matt would be fine she hated seeing Geoff look stressed like that. Gavin sat across from him, cradling his mug between sweater-pawed hands, sipping at some steaming Earl Grey, he looked cozy in his over-sized sweater (stolen from Geoff from their closet) and pyjama pants, it may not get very cold in LS but they did keep the apartment well air-conditioned which did lead to some chilly evenings later in the year.

Jack paused in the doorway, looking over her boys, and cleared her throat lightly. They both looked up at her, a slow smile spreading across Geoff’s face when he saw her, but Gavin’s gaze locked on her for only a moment before they skipped over to the tall figure just behind her, hunching his shoulders forward, trying to disappear it seemed.

“So this is the kid, eh babe?” Geoff said, standing from his chair, he walked over to Jack and kissed her temple lightly before looking at Michael.

“And your name is?” He asked, sounding friendly is a little wary.

“Michael Jones” Michael replied, and Jack noticed how he had pitched his voice down again, deepening it from the vulnerable tone she’d heard in the hallway. Geoff stuck his hand out to him, and Michael took it after a moment.  
“I’m Geoff” he said, giving Michael’s hand a firm shake “Good to meet you kid”

Michael gave him a short nod, and looked like he was about to speak when Gavin spoke up.

“I’m Gavin” he said from his chair, watching the other boy with curious eyes. “I could give you a hand fixing your hair if you like, I can tell you’re trying to hide it cause it’s choppy” he said simply, and Jack blushed deeply at Gavin’s bluntness, truly feeling like an embarrassed mother.

“You think you can cut curly hair?” Michael’s voice was questioning, somewhat reproachful, but not necessarily angry.

“Right sight better than you I think” Gavin replied. Jack glanced back at Michael and found him grinning crookedly.

“I’d like to see you fuckin try”

“Oh I’ll try boi, and it’ll look a hell of a lot better than what you’ve got done to yourself” Gavin replied, a wicked grin on his face that Jack knew all too well.   
“Alright, settle” she said, giving Gavin a pointed look “First things first why don’t you give Michael a little tour Gav? We can leave the hair cutting to tomorrow when the sun’s up and you can do it out on the deck” she said, putting her hands on her hips.  
“Jack’s right” Geoff said, placing a hand on the small of her back, kissing her head lightly “It’s late, Michael’s gotta be tired, and I’m sure Jackie’s gonna want to shower and change and sleep before you get up to any kind of nonsense Gavver” he said matter of factly, and Jack looked up at him and gave him a grateful look.

Gavin nodded quickly and jumped up from his chair, and grabbed Michael by his wrist.

“Come on boi! I’ll give you the grand tour, you’ll be staying in my room, so we’ll start there” he said, dragging Michael out of the room. Michael followed without struggle, laughing at Gavin’s enthusiasm.

“I didn’t think he’d be so cool about it” Geoff said after their voices had trailed away down the hall.

“I didn’t either, but then we know Gavin’s about as friendly as they come” she said, leaning into Geoff’s side.

“So Matt’s really gonna be alright?” he asked after a long pause.

“Yeah, he is, promise. He’s gonna be limping for awhile, and he’ll probably be one of those old ladies who can feel bad weather coming in their knees or whatever, but he’ll be just fine” she moved her head slightly and pecked his upper arm.

“Good, that’s good” he said after a deep breath. He leaned down and kissed her lips lightly, before leaning back in and giving her a longer kiss.

Which was then broken by the sound of Gavin knocking something over in the hallway, causing them both to jump, and then burst out laughing.

Some things just don’t change, even if you add another member to the chaos.

-

It took some time for Michael to open up to her about why exactly he wanted Jack’s help. He and Gavin got on like a house on fire, both to Jack’s delight and Geoff’s terror, and it seemed Michael was, perhaps, nervous to ruin what he likely saw as a great thing, but Jack was finally forced to broach the subject with him when one afternoon, three weeks or so after Michael had approached her, when she noticed how heavily he was breathing after chasing Gavin down the hallway for taking off with one of his beanies, and Jack was loathe to bring anything up, because it’d taken them over a week just to coax him to see an optometrist, who, once they managed to drag Michael in for an appointment, confirmed Jack’s suspicions that he needed glasses, and had put in a rush order to get them made and shipped so the poor boy could see the world around him.

She’d watched him lean over, hands on knees, panting hard, harder than he should’ve been from just running down their short hallway and tackling Gavin to the floor. She watched him with concern as his laughter turned wheezy when he couldn’t get his breath properly. It was when she saw his breath hitch in his chest in a way she knew it shouldn’t in a healthy person that she practically launched herself off the couch and gently hauled him up by his elbow, told Gavin to stay put, and marched Michael into the bathroom, sat him down on the closed toilet, and closed the door behind them.

“Alright, what have you got done to yourself Michael?” she asked gently, looking at him with deep concern.

“Nothin” he said defensively, his voice cracking slightly and familiarly at the end of his word, still breathing too hard.

“Michael you know I’m a nurse, you know that anything you tell me that you don’t want Geoff or Gavin to know won’t make it back to them, right?” she said gently, sitting on the edge of the tub. “You’re safe here, but you need to tell me what’s going on, because I am a nurse, and I _know_ the way you’re breathing isn’t healthy”

Michael let out a heavy sigh, putting his face in his hands.

“It’s kind of a long story” he said after a long moment of silence.

“I’ve got all the time in the world sweetheart” she said gently, leaning her elbows on her knees “So go right ahead”

There was another long pause of silence where she watched Michael chew on his lip in nervous anticipation, and then he moved, pulling his shirt off over his head, looking for all the world like he was ripping off a bandage.

Under his plain black t-shirt Michael’s chest and stomach were pale and freckled like the rest of him, but it was what he wore around his chest that concerned Jack.

Michael had bound his chest with an ace bandage, and she could see the indents it was leaving where the edges of the wrap pressed into his skin.

“My family’s pretty traditional” he said by way of explanation “My dad runs a mob family back in Jersey, and I’ve got two older brothers who were both almost ten years older than me” he sighed, shaking his head “But my mom had always wanted a girl, and when I was born she thought she’d got that.” He rubbed a hand over his face, clearly having a hard time with it. “But I never felt right, my legal name made me feel uncomfortable, I hated wearing skirts and dresses, but I always got forced into them, for a long time I thought it was just cause I had two older brothers, so I just always thought it was that I admired my brothers and wanted to be like them, and then my dad hired a girl on as a sniper, she was only a little older than me, so we hung around together a lot, and she helped me figure things out. I’m trans, and when I said that to my parents my dad told me ‘There’s no such thing, and you better act like a lady or you’d better get outta my house’, so I left. Stole my older brother’s car and some of his clothes, and left, my mom cried when she caught me running away, but she just handed me a wad of cash, told me she loved me, called me Michael, because that was what my parents had agreed to name me if I’d been born a boy to them, and let me go.” He pushed his glasses up onto his forehead, and rubbed at his eyes, trying to hide the tears that Jack had already noticed sliding down his cheeks.

“You don’t have to worry about that here” she said gently “No one here is going to be upset with who you are, to us you’re Michael, to Gavin you’re his boi, this isn’t going to change that” she reached out and gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze “The only thing that bothers me is that you’ve been hurting yourself with the way you bind, there are safer ways to do it” she said.

“I just couldn’t access those back home” he said, his voice a little hoarse “It wasn’t safe to do anything about it back in Jersey”

“Well it’s safe here” she said, giving him a little smile “So, what do you say we figure something better out until we can look into top surgery, if that’s something you’d want”

“It is” he said quietly.

“Alright, we’ll figure something out” she stood and pressed a kiss to his forehead “First things first though, you can borrow one of my sports bras until we can get you a binder, it’ll be a lot safer and way more comfortable.” She watched Michael frown slightly at her suggestion, and raised an eyebrow at him “What is it?” she asked gently.

“I tried sports bras, they just don’t flatten down how I want” he said slowly.

“Of course they don’t, but just because an ace bandage flattens you out more doesn’t mean it’s the better choice, in fact it’s much worse, do you know why people use ace bandages to bind joints?” she asked gently, Michael shook his head slightly, looking sceptical “We bind injuries with ace bandages because the way they’re made causes them to constrict as you move to keep the joint immobilized and minimize swelling. It’s doing that every time you breathe, which is why you get so out of breath, because it’s constricting your chest too much, which can cause serious malformations in your ribs, which can lead to all kinds of medical issues internally, some of which can eliminate top surgery as an option for safety reasons” she said, hoping that the threat to his health might knock some sense into him.

She watched Michael think it over, and after a long moment of silence he finally spoke.

“You think you’ve got a sports bra that’ll fit me?” he said quietly.

“We can look, and if I don’t, we can go out and have a look, I’m nor sure about getting a binder though, we’ll have to do some research and find a good one for you until we can get a date set for your surgery, and we’ll need to get you into a GP’s office so you can start hormone treatment, which I’m happy to help with if you’re not big on needles, I see a lot of them in this house” she kept nattering about her experience with using needles on her other boys as she led Michael out of the bathroom and into her and Geoff’s room so she could dig through her dresser for a sports bra. She had only been looking for a moment when there was a quiet knock on the open door, and she and Michael both turned around to see Gavin standing nervously in the doorway, shifting from foot to foot and twisting one of his rings around on his finger.  
“Are you alright boi?” he asked quietly, looking for all the world like a concerned puppy as he loitered in the doorway.

“Yeah, I’m okay boi” Michael replied, pausing briefly before Jack saw him shrug to himself “I just got outta breath cause I’m a fucking idiot and I’ve been binding wrong, it’s not your fault Gavvy” he said, sounding a little shaky, but otherwise like himself.

“Michael!” Gavin gasped, his hands flying to his mouth, looking upset “Why didn’t you tell me boi? I could’ve helped you find something proper to use! I’ve done a bit of research for a friend back when I was still in England, you should’ve said something!”

Jack heard Michael let out a relieved sigh and he went over to Gavin and pulled him into a hug. Jack had a feeling the continued use of their word, Boi, and Gavin’s utter acceptance had been more than Michael could have hoped for.

“I didn’t know I was doin it wrong, I didn’t really have time to look up good resources when I left for here” Michael shrugged slightly as he pulled out of the hug “Jack offered up a sports bra for now, until we can find a real binder and do all the medical shit that comes along with this”

“I might still have some resources saved on my old laptop, we can take a look in a bit” Gavin said, bouncing on the balls of his feet, eager to help.

“First things first” Jack interrupted “Michael needs to get out of the ace bandage and into something safer, and I am going to call a doctor friend and see if she can’t squeeze Michael in asap” she said, still digging through her dresser. Triumphantly, a moment later, she pulled out a sports bra that was at least five or six years old, too small for her to wear anymore, it’d been from her college days when she’d been significantly slimmer, a time she, frankly, didn’t care to return to, and handed it over to Michael “This might just do the trick” she said simply “You’re about the same size I was in college, maybe a little more muscular, but this should work better than my newer ones” she laughed to herself “I’m a little thicker around the chest and middle than you are”

“And there’s nothing wrong with that” she heard Geoff’s voice out in the hall, and looked up to him, and smiled. “What’s going on in here babe? Why’s the whole circus in our room?” he said affectionately, reaching out to ruffle Gavin’s hair as he walked into the room.

“We’re getting something safer for Michael to bind with” Gavin said with no preamble. Jack saw something cross over Geoff’s eyes that looked concerned.

“Everything okay Michael?” he asked slowly. Michael shrugged slightly.

“According to Jack, no, and she is the medical professional here, so I’m inclined to listen” he said slowly, Geoff gave a short nod, brows furrowed.  
“She does usually know what’s best” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets “You want me to call that buddy of yours for him?” Geoff asked, this time directing his concerned look at Jack.

“Yeah, please baby, if you wouldn’t mind” she said, smiling “We need to get Michael a proper check up to make sure he hasn’t damaged his lungs or chest in a way that I can’t see” she said, Geoff nodded and walked out, pulling his cell out of his pocket to call Jack’s friend.

“Is he okay?” Michael asked slowly, he looked uncertain, something that Jack wasn’t a fan of “I mean, he seemed like, weird?”

“Oh no sweetheart, I think he was just surprised, Geoff grew up in a small town in Alabama, the kinda place that pretends that there has never been a single queer kid to live there, I promise you he’s not upset with you, he just never learned how to process this stuff” she reached out and squeezed his arm lightly “He loves you boys, no matter what, don’t you doubt that” she said gently, Michael gave a short nod, brows pulled together.

“Don’t worry Michael boi, he comes around I promise, he acted the same when I came out to them, but now he’s just fine, I think it’s like Jack says, small town mentalities and stuff” Gavin threw an arm around Michael and gave him a tight squeeze, Michael looked over at him and gave him a small smile, it was genuine, if a little tight.

“I’ll take your word for it” he said. Jack smiled at him and held the sports bra out to him.

“Alright, enough chit chat, you, my boy, need to go get changed, and if we’re lucky Leanne can squeeze you in for a checkup today” she said, and gently shooed the two boys out of her and Geoff’s room.

-

Later on that day saw Jack, Michael, and Gavin piling into her car to take Michael into her friend’s practice. Luckily for them, Leanne had had a cancellation of an appointment and had been able to squeeze Michael in for a quick checkup with no problem.

Michael seemed nervous, he was picking at a piece of loose thread on his jeans, staring out the window and not replying to Gavin’s upbeat nattering from the backseat. Gavin didn’t seem to mind this at all, and kept up his rapid fire chatter for much of the drive, occasionally lapsing into silence to check his phone, or to give Michael a concerned look, but otherwise he remained quite positive, even after they arrived and he was told that he’d have to wait out in the waiting room for Jack and Michael to return, he happily replied that he’d be playing Candy Crush until they returned.

Once Michael and Jack were settled into Leanne’s office she started her questioning without any preamble, except to greet Jack happily.

“Alright, so, when Geoff called he mentioned that Michael is looking to get a checkup because he’s been binding unsafely, and you all need to know if he’s alright physically to proceed with transitioning, is that right?” Leanne asked simply.

“Yeah” Michael said, rubbing at his neck “I didn’t know what I was doing was bad for me”

“It’s alright dear, lots of trans kids will deal with the same issues, especially coming from unaccepting families, they don’t have the support they need to learn how to take care of themselves while trying to transition, and they take risks when binding because they don’t know it’s the wrong way to do things” she said “The important thing is that you learned it was bad and you’ve come in to make sure you’re alright.” Michael nodded slightly as she spoke, taking everything in “First things first, I’m going to need you to take off your shirt so we can get started and I can examine the area, is it alright with you to have Jack stay, or would you like her to leave?” Leanne gave Jack a brief, well meaning smile, as she asked the question, knowing that Jack would want to know he was alright, but also knowing it was important that Michael had his privacy if he wanted.

“Uh, I’d like her to stay if that’s okay” he said quietly.

“That’s perfectly fine Michael” Leanne said reassuringly, patting his knee “Then let’s get started”

-

By the beginning of December, it had slowly started to get chillier in LS, Jack and Geoff’s wedding was only two weeks away, and Michael’s voice had dropped properly. He was still experiencing cracks and breaks galore, but he wasn’t forced to clear his throat and pitch his voice down to make sure people saw him how he wanted them too. And in Jack’s view, he’d never been happier.

They’d done a few jobs and heists in the two months since Michael had joined the crew, but nothing too big, they’d wanted to bring him in slowly, especially having no proper experience when it came to doing anything too dangerous. Sure he’d come from a mob family back out in Jersey, but it was the kinda traditionalist family that didn’t really let it’s ‘girls’ do much other than cook big meals for parties and get togethers, and pop out kids left and right, at least, that’s what Michael had told her. And because he had never been trained in weaponry, or even in combat, getting him involved in jobs had been difficult. Gavin had at least been trained to use a pistol, but Michael didn’t know anything about using a gun. But he was a fast learner. Jack had started him in a similar way to how her father had taught her, you start by dismantling the gun, learning it’s parts, and then you get to learn to shoot it.

Michael had it down within a week of Jack starting her lessons with him, and by then he was learning to shoot, and he was more accurate than Gavin within a month.

But by December anything big had been put to the side because of both Christmas, and Jack and Geoff’s wedding on the horizon. The whole house was abuzz, it was going to be her second Christmas with Geoff, and their first Christmas with their boys, and Jack couldn’t have been more excited about it, especially to have two boys around who were practically bouncing off the walls with how excited they were about Christmas. Jack herself had always loved it, she loved the decorations and how cozy everything was, and she loved the joy that giving brought people, her first Christmas with Geoff had been small, but she’d found an old book in a second hand shop, it was a heavy hardback version of the Extended Edition of Stephen King’s _The Stand_ and Geoff had been ecstatic about it, especially when he’d noticed something Jack hadn’t; there was a signature from the man himself inside the cover. Geoff loved books, and that one had been probably the best find Jack could have had. Geoff had given her a lovely vintage leather Gladstone bag, the kind that doctors used to carry to home appointments once upon a time. She still had no idea where he’d found it, or how he’d gotten his hands on it, but she loved it. The soft dark red leather was still in great condition, and it was big enough for her to store all her medical accoutrements outside of the bathroom sink cupboard, but not so big that she couldn’t chuck it in the car if she needed to run out and give someone a hand. She knew that she and Geoff were relatively easy to buy for, but it was the boys who would be a problem, especially considering she and Geoff had planned their wedding for the week before Christmas, so they didn’t really have a whole lot of time to get it all done.

But to be fair to them, when they’d begun planning the wedding, there was only two of them.

Jack didn’t want to put anything on the backburner if she could avoid it, so she was glad for the fact that they all agreed that Michael wasn’t quite ready for a full scale heist yet, because that made it much easier to put off doing jobs until the new year, because Jack had far more important things, in her opinion, to worry about, especially when it came to the wedding, and then Christmas right after.

It was pretty apparent that in most of her life Jack was anything but traditional, she happily worked in organized crime, picked up dumb boys off the street left and right, and had been living with her fiancé out of wedlock for the entire time she’d known him, even before they had begun their romantic relationship. But when it came to her wedding, Jack wanted a bit of tradition. For the ceremony she’d gone for an A-line dress that poofed out in tulle and lace from her natural waist, and had a high neckline and short sleeves in the same lace as the skirt, and a lovely key-hole back, something Geoff had petitioned for (even though he hadn’t seen the dress) because he loved the light layer of freckles that dusted her upper back and shoulders. Geoff had plans to wear his nicest tux for the ceremony, which they were having in a pretty little church uptown, because it was a little cold to be anywhere else in mid-December. For the reception, which they were holding at a massive house Burnie owned about a twenty minute drive from the church, with plenty of space inside and out for the relatively small guest list they’d invited, they both planned a wardrobe change. Geoff’s mostly involved removing his jacket and changing into jeans, while Jack’s involved completely changing her dress. Gavin had helped her pick out a lovely black maxi dress with three-quarter length sleeves and a pale and dark blue and white floral pattern. Burnie had also, very graciously, given Jack the keys to the house for her and Geoff to have a little honey moon there if they wanted to get away from the boys, or at least set them up in a completely separate part of the house, and Jack and Geoff had both agreed to spend Christmas at that house with the boys a floor up from them for privacy.

With the venue decided, dresses picked, and plans for flowers laid, they were doing white roses and poinsettias, all that was left to figure out in Jack’s mind was who would walk her down the aisle.

She had left home when she was eighteen and had never looked back. Growing up her family hadn’t been the greatest, she knew from what Gavin and Michael had told her about their families and home lives growing up she’d had it pretty good in that regard, but they were still people that, as an adult, she’d prefer to keep out of her life as much as she possibly could, and she did. But when it came to her wedding it was a bit of a blow to the little traditions that she wanted to subscribe to. Geoff and the boys were her only real family, and since Geoff was obviously already standing up with her, he couldn’t do it, and Gavin had set himself decidedly in the role of her ‘man of honour’ the second he was able to, which was a relief to Jack because he had been a great help.

Burnie had offered to do it, like the amazing friend he was to them, but Geoff had already asked him to be his best man, and she didn’t want to tear him away from his job there, so she’d politely declined, and by the week of the wedding she figured she’d just be walking herself down the aisle.

But it turned out she wouldn’t have to.

Jack and the boys had gone over to the house Burnie was lending them to put the Christmas tree and other decorations up in the living room, kitchen, and bedrooms they’d be using, so that everything would be ready for their stay over Christmas. Gavin and Geoff had left her alone in the living room with the tree in its stand to go get some boxes out of the back of Geoff’s truck. Michael had taken one of the other boxes upstairs when they’d arrived, and Jack was trying to orient the tree in a way she liked when he came back down the stairs. He was a little pink in the face from carrying the heavy box up the ridiculous flight of stairs, but he looked happy.

“Hey Jack, can I talk to you?” he said, jogging over to her from the bottom of the staircase. He looked a little hesitant, and she wondered what it was he wanted to talk to her about. Surely he wasn’t going to talk to her about his top surgery? If he were he wouldn’t look so hesitant and nervous, he had talked very freely with her about what he wanted, and when he hoped to be able to do it, and he’d never been shy about it once he’d come out.

“Yeah sweetie, what’s up?” she asked, pushing her hair out of her face.

“So you know how you’ve been trying to find someone to walk you down the aisle?” He asked, rubbing at the back of his neck slightly.

“Yeah” she said slowly, watching him jitter.

“Well I know you said no to Burnie, and Gavin’s already planning on being your maid of honour like the little princess he is” he said, smiling fondly as he spoke about Gavin “and I mean obviously Geoff can’t do it cause that’d be stupid, so I just…” he paused, rubbing a hand over his face, trying to collect his thoughts so it seemed “I just wanted to offer to do it myself” he said.

Jack was a little bit shocked, she hadn’t expected that. Michael had happily involved himself in helping Gavin work on some of the wedding plans that Jack had given him, but he hadn’t expressed any interest in being part of the wedding party beyond teasing Gavin about it.

“I mean if you don’t want me to you can just say no, but we’re only two days off and I figured I’d put my name in if you still wanted someone to do it” he said after Jack stayed silent a little too long. Jack wasn’t sure what to say, it was so sweet of him to offer that she was completely speechless, and before she could even think about it she was rushing over to hug him, squeezing him tightly to her.

“I would love for you to walk me down the aisle Michael” she said, her voice a little tight with emotion “Thank you sweetheart” she said as he wrapped his arms around her in return and hugged her tight.

“I figured it’s the least I can do” he said, propping his chin lightly on top of her head, a move she knew all of her boys were prone to when hugging her, she assumed it was an almost protective move since they were all so tall and she wasn’t. “I mean you took me in, you helped me become more me than I could have ever been, I mean for fuck’s sake you stab a needle in my thigh regularly because you actually give a shit, walking you down the aisle to your dumbshit fiancé on your wedding day is the least I could do for you” he said, pulling away to look down at her face. She wiped at her eyes quickly and squeezed his arm gently.

“This means a lot to me Michael, you have no idea how much” she said. Michael shrugged a bit and smiled crookedly at her, pushing his glasses up his nose.

“It’s not a problem Jack, I’m happy to be involved, I mean if Gav’s involved why shouldn’t I be, right?” he said, smiling down at her, and if Jack were more apt to tease she’d have said something about how his eyes looked a little misty.

“My god am I lucky to have you boys around” she said, giving him another quick squeeze.

“You sure are lucky to have us babe” Geoff said as he and Gavin came back in, Geoff with a massive plastic container in his arms, and Gavin dragging a suitcase behind himself. “But why is it you’re lucky today, specifically?” he asked, setting down the box and going to press a kiss lightly to the top of her head.

“Michael’s just offered to walk me down the aisle” she said, grinning up at Geoff. He looked over at Michael and gave him a warm smile.

“Thank god, now she can stop complaining about it” he said playfully, kissing her temple lightly.

“You shut your mouth Geoffrey” she said, smacking his arm lightly, laughing “I haven’t been complaining, I’ve been trying to problem solve!” she said, faking indignance, which all three boys just laughed at.

And the love surrounding them in that room, two days before her and Geoff’s wedding, and a week before Christmas, was palpable and it left Jack feeling warm for ages afterward as they decorated the house with Christmas ornaments and small flower arrangements. It was everything Jack could have asked for to melt away the stress of making sure everything was in place for the wedding.

-

The morning of the wedding saw Jack and Gavin in the master bedroom with a nurse friend of Jack who had kept in touch with her, a sweet girl who’d been fresh out of nursing school when Jack started at LS General ER, who’s name was Annie. When she’d found out Jack had gotten engaged she had been the first person to congratulate them. And when Jack had started trying to plan the wedding Annie had been the first to offer her help wherever she could.

Annie and Gavin had basically imposed themselves into Jack’s wedding party and she had no complaints there, they were good people and she could not have appreciated them any more than she already did.

Especially because Gavin was way better at makeup than she was, and there were a million buttons on the back of her wedding dress.

As it stood, she was sitting on a little poof-type stool in front of a gorgeous white vanity table, with her back to the mirror while Gavin did her makeup. His face was a mask of concentration as he worked on her. He’d already done Annie’s, and a little bit of his own while Jack had been getting her hair done by a woman Burnie had hired for her; it was done up simply, exaggerating her natural loose curls into something a little tighter and thicker, and had the front pieces braided back from her face and down the back of her hair, and had small sprigs of baby’s breath threaded into the braid, she had wanted it to be a little more simple because her dress was a little more dramatic than she was used to, and the braid and baby’s breath would go well with the flower crown made of white rose buds she’d decided on in place of a regular veil.

After what felt like ages sitting on that little stool in a soft silky bathrobe and stockings with her eyes closed as Gavin did her eye makeup she let out a long and peeked open the eye Gavin wasn’t working on.

“Are you almost done sweetie?” She asked, fidgeting with her engagement ring. She wasn’t nervous necessarily, but she was getting a little antsy.

“Almost, I need another like two minutes and then you can do your own lipstick” he said, and when he stopped speaking Jack watched the tip of his tongue poke out of his mouth as he concentrated.

“Alright” she said, closing her eye again “How much time have we got left?” she asked.

“You’ve got about forty-five minutes for Gavin to finish his shit up and for you to get your dress on before the ceremony” came Michael’s voice from the doorway. Gavin’s hand paused on her face, and when she peeked her eye open again he’d turned around to look at Michael and was smiling.

“I thought you’d be with Geoff until the ceremony Michael Boi” he said as he turned back to Jack to finish up.

“Yeah, Geoff kicked me out cause he wanted me to bring something over to you before he and Burnie and Gus left” he said, walking further into the room and throwing himself onto the bed. He looked dashing in a navy blue suit and white tie, his hair had been left curly, but he had left his beanie away for the occasion. He was dressed quite similarly to Gavin, because they’d gotten their suits together so they’d match as part of the bride’s party, but as his own little way of standing out Gavin had opted for a dark red bow tie to denote himself as Jack’s Man of honour, and because they’d gotten their suits first they’d taken all the fuss out of picking colours for the bridal party because navy blue also suited Annie’s lovely olive skin, and she had been happy to go along with what the boys were wearing.

“What’d he send you over with?” Annie asked, leaning her chin on her hand in a way that made Gavin squawk at her not to ruin her foundation, which Annie just laughed at.

“He wanted me to give Jack this” Michael said, jumping up from the bed and handing Jack a small white leather jewelry box “He said you still didn’t have your Something New, and he figured it may as well be from him” he said simply, nudging Gavin out of his way, earning himself his own squawk of indignance. Jack took the box from Michael’s hands with trembling fingers. She had wanted to do the Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue tradition, but she hadn’t been able to find anything she thought suited the sort of classic look she had planned for a Something New. She, Gavin and Annie had all gone out and gotten their nails done, and hers had been done in a navy to match her bridal party’s colour, and that was her Something Blue, Gavin’s Nan’s white gold hoops were her Something Old, and she’d borrowed a loose silver choker with a small heart pendant from Annie as her Something Borrowed, something Annie had also told her she could keep, as a wedding gift, all that was missing was her Something New.

She hesitated as she moved to open the little box, fingers trembling in excitement and nerves. Inside, nestled on a little bed of black velvet, something that reminded her oddly of the box in which Geoff had given her her prized pistol, was possibly the most stereotypical thing Geoff had ever bought her.

It was a simple, silver Pandora charm bracelet with a heart shaped closure, it had three charms on it already, a Caduceus, a tiara, and a charm that appeared to have been special made, because it was modeled exactly after the pistol he’d given her that first night when she’d moved in. And seeing it she couldn’t tell if she wanted to laugh or cry, but her eyes welled up as she looked at it, and one hand covered her mouth. It meant so much to her that Geoff had put so much thought into it, and even if it wasn’t the most unique gift it meant the world to her that he’d thought of it.

Slowly Jack lifted it out of it’s little box, and was going to clasp it around her wrist when Michael’s hand stopped her.

“Before you put it on, Gav and I have something for it too” he said slowly, smiling as he reached into a pocket inside his suit jacket “We figured Geoff shouldn’t be the only one to chip in for that bracelet, so we figured we should get something too” he said, and handed her a little box as Gavin gripped his other arm. Inside it was a little charm shaped like a Christmas tree, and Jack nearly burst into tears right there. And she would have if there had been time for Gavin to fix her makeup. Slowly she slid the last charm onto the bracelet and clasped the little heart closed and stood, hugging both of her boys close.

“I don’t deserve you two” she said, her voice thick with tears as she squeezed them.

“Nah, it’s us that don’t deserve you, Queen” Gavin said, hugging her back tightly.

“Gav’s right, if it weren’t for you all three of us’d be high and dry and probably dead or in jail” Michael said, and pressed a quick light kiss to her hair as he pulled out of the hug.

But not before Annie snapped a picture on a polaroid camera Gavin had brought up to take pictures of the wedding day prep.

“That was all very sweet and loving, and I one-hundred per cent have tears in my eyes right now, but we need to get Jack into her dress, and into the car to go to the church, cause if we don’t leave soon we’ll be late” Annie said, holding the camera one hand and wiping at one of her misty eyes with the other. Jack took a deep breath, wiped at her own eyes, and took a step back from her boys.   
“Alright then.” She said, feeling more sure about this than anything else in her whole life “Get me buttoned into this dress and let’s move” she said. Annie and Gavin nodded, and Michael made a short gesture to say he was leaving, and bolted out the door to wait for them in the hallway.

Gavin and Annie helped Jack into her dress with it’s key-hole back and it’s million buttons, helped her shrug on a cute little white pea coat for the drive to the church, and then the four of them descended the stairs, put on their shoes, and left, embarking on Jack’s last half hour of being a fiancée.

-

The church was beautiful when they arrived. The late afternoon sun was shining in through the stained glass, and there were roses and poinsettias everywhere, and Christmas lights twinkling on every windowsill. It was exactly as Jack had imagined. She’d left her coat in the car, and waited just outside the door to the main part of the church with Michael, waiting for their cue.

“Feeling nervous?” he asked her lightly, watching the door.

“Nope” she said, smiling “Are you?”

“Maybe a little” he said “I never thought I’d walk someone down the aisle at their wedding, it’s a little daunting” his hand fidgeted a bit with the button on his suit jacket, and Jack reached out to him, giving his fingers a gentle squeeze. They’d be called through any moment now by the music.

“You’ll do fine” she said gently “All you need to do it walk to the end, and then go stand behind Gavin, and make sure I don’t trip in these heels” she said, kicking one foot out slightly from underneath the voluminous skirt of her wedding dress to show the toe of her polished black Louboutins, “Think you can handle that?” she asked, teasingly.

“I think I can manage” Michael replied a little sarcastically. It was then that the wedding march started up inside.

“Good, cause that’s our cue” she said, and Michael smiled at her, holding out his arm to her. She set her hand in the crook of his elbow, and grinned at him.

“Let’s get our asses in gear than” he said, and pushed open the door, leading her through the doorway, and onto the white carpeted aisle.

The second she saw Geoff everything went out from under her except Michael’s grip on her hand where it rested in his elbow. Geoff stood up at the alter wearing his tuxedo, his hair slicked back and styled, and his moustache waxed and styled to match. His hands fidgeted where they were clasped together in front of him, and he looked a little nervous.

But then his eyes locked with hers and he grinned, wide and lopsided, heavy lidded eyes bright and soft and full of so much love Jack felt her breath catch in her throat as she and Michael approached him, and it took all she had not to burst out in tears.

Jack was, and always had been, an extremely sentimental woman, and seeing the love of her life standing up at the alter in a beautiful church full of Christmas lights and flowers, and their friends was almost too much for her heart to take.

And then suddenly she was in front of him, at the steps to the alter, and Michael was letting go of her hand and passing it off to Geoff, and she only had a moment to press a light kiss to Michael’s cheek before he’d smiled and walked past her up the step to stand next to Gavin, and then she too climbed up the step and grinned at Geoff with watery eyes.

“Hey Queen” he said quietly, his eyes just as misty as hers.

“Hey King” she replied, sniffling a little as they smiled at each other. At the same time they took a deep breath, squeezed each other’s hands, and looked up at the priest.

“Dearly beloved” he began, addressing the small group of their friends and business associates gathered in the pews dressed in their Sunday Best. “It is with joy that we are gathered here today to honour the love between these two people” he continued, and Jack was happy to hear him deviate from the traditional speech. “Today I ask that you bear happy witness to the marriage of Jaclyn Pattillo, and Geoffrey Ramsey” the priest looked at them both with a smile creasing his withered cheeks, and clasped their joined hands in his own for a brief moment before releasing them. “I have been informed that the couple has prepared their own vows, so if they would like to begin” he said, inclining his head to Geoff.

Geoff cleared his throat and took a deep breath, pulling a small piece of paper out of his suit jacket.

“Jackie, babe, when I came to you that night in the ER after throwing my dumbass” here he paused and inclined his head to the priest “Sorry Father” he muttered, much to the priest’s amusement, before continuing “through a second story window, I never thought it’d lead me here. I’d gotten myself into all kinds a stupid before I met you, and you know all about all of it, and you didn’t say anything to anyone that night. When I asked you to start a crew with me you jumped in with both feet, you could’ve laughed in my face and called me crazy, but you moved in with me and kept looking after me, and I can never thank you enough for that. This life we have, these boys, this crew, it’d be nothing without you, I’d be nothing without you, and even if you give me a heart attack every couple of months bringing idiots into our house I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world” he paused, clearing his throat again, and wiping quickly at his eyes “I love you baby, and I am the luckiest man in the world to get to stand here and marry you, my Queen” he finished, lifting her hands to his lips and kissing her knuckles gently.

Jack was trying hard to hold back tears, and her throat had gone tight as he’d spoken.

And then the priest was nodding to her encouragingly and she wiped at her eyes, swallowed hard and bit her lips together for a moment before speaking.

“I’d love to give a sappy speech about all of the shmoopy shit we’ve done together over the almost two years, but very little of our life has been sappy.” She started, knowing her own vows by heart already “You’ve scared me half to death at least once a week every week since I’ve known you” she reached out and placed a hand on his left bicep where that bullet that had solidified everything for her had hit “We’ve been in and out of danger so much that I’m not sure I completely remember what peace and quiet feels like” she said, and the crowd around them laughed. “But I wouldn’t trade any of it for anything in the world. Working with you, living with you, falling in love with you, has been a privilege I never thought I’d be blessed with. Before I met you I’d resigned myself to being alone, but you showed up on a broken ankle in the middle of the goddamn night, and you brought a purpose for me with your cuts and bruises and your sly, sleepy eyes, and I couldn’t have backed out then if I’d tried. Watching you grow in our business, and as a mentor to these two crazy boys” she said, glancing back at Gavin and Michael behind her briefly, to find Gavin with tears streaming down his cheeks, holding onto Michael’s hand like his life depended on it, and Michael had tears on his cheeks too, and her heart just melted “Watching you come into your own and put up with me bringing home kids I thought needed me has been an incredible pleasure. You have given me the wildest ride of my life, and I can’t fucking wait to hit the next loop.” She said, squeezing Geoff’s hand tightly as she watched a tear drip down his cheek “I love you so much sometimes it stops my breath, and I’m going to keep loving you until my breath stops forever, my brave, sweet King” she finished, her voice strained and tight from holding back her own tears.

There was a long moment of silence after she finished before the priest cleared his throat, dabbed his cheek with a handkerchief, and began his lines again.

“And with that, do you, Geoffrey Lazer Ramsey, take Jaclyn Shannon Pattillo, to be your lawfully wedded wife?” he asked, looking down at Geoff.

“I do” Geoff said, gazing down into Jack’s face.

“And do you, Jaclyn Shannon Pattillo, take Geoffrey Lazer Ramsey to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do” she said, sniffling softly, grinning up at Geoff as a tear finally slid down her cheek.

“Then I now pronounce you husband and wife” said the priest “Geoffrey, you may now kiss the bride”  
“You better fucking believe I will” he said, making their gathered friends laugh again, as he wrapped his arms around her and swept her into a kiss that bent her backwards and forced her to wrap her arms around his neck as he kissed her soundly, and there was nothing in the world except his arms wrapped around her and his lips on hers and the tickle of his moustache on her nose. Her fingers gripped at his collar and the hair at the nape of his neck, holding onto him for dear life, and then he was pulling away, and there were cheers and applause all around them, and Geoff was grinning down at her like she had hung the sun in the sky, and she knew she was looking up at him much the same.

“And now I present to you, Geoffrey and Jaclyn Ramsey” said the priest “Bless you all, and merry Christmas” he said, and Jack and Geoff were descending from the alter with their friends and their boys behind them, and they were getting in the car, and it was all a complete blur of joy and bliss and tears. And she and Geoff kissed again in the back of the car, and the boys teased them, but Jack couldn’t find it in herself to snark back because she couldn’t remember ever seeing her boys that happy. And she couldn’t remember ever having _felt_ that happy in her whole life until she’d met Geoff.

And it was bliss.

-

The reception back at the house was simple, and much less of a blur. She and Geoff and their little bridal party took pictures in front of the Christmas tree the four of them had decorated together before she and Geoff went to change. They went to the master bedroom together, holding hands. Geoff had given her her wedding ring in the car, and she had done the same, it had been something they’d wanted to save for themselves, because the rings had been something they wanted to keep for themselves. Once they had changed they made their way back downstairs, but they had one last thing to do before they joined the party out in the yard, and gathered in the large dining room of the house.

In the time they’d been upstairs Gus had managed to get the tattooist into the living room, and a little station set up for him near the fireplace.

When they had discussed rings they had also talked about matching tattoos, Geoff was covered in tattoos so it had been a no brainer to him, and Jack did have a few, but it had never been something she’d thought about until he’d brought it up.

Marriage tattoos are a kind of matching tattoo that most artists refuse to do, because it’s technically illegal. The idea behind it is that the artist does both tattoos with the same needle, linking the couple together in blood and ink. And when Geoff had told her about the practice she couldn’t have agreed more that the idea worked well for them. Linked in blood and broken bone in their relationship, why not be physically linked by blood too?

The tattoos took almost no time at all, they were simple, small, a set of playing card letters and two small hearts on the outside of their thumbs on their left hands. The King and Queen of Hearts. It was fitting, and about as romantic as they would ever get. And then the artist wrapped the tattoos, and packed his things up, and they went out to join the crowd, holding hands.

-

It was truly a beautiful evening, they watched as Michael and Gavin mingled with friends they knew, and associates they’d never met, cut their cake and shoved the pieces in each other’s faces, and waited until the end of the evening to have their first slow dance as a married couple. Neither of them were really dancers, so they were happy to save it to the end.

Just like at the ceremony, but this time more as a joke, Michael handed Jack off to Geoff with a grin, and got the guests cleared off the dance floor. And then over the speakers set up out in the yard, quietly the guitar picked up, and then Taylor Swift was singing _Enchanted_ , and Geoff was laughing at her for picking the song for their dance.

They swayed across the dance floor clumsily, like teenagers at a school dance, and there was silence all around them except for the music, and Jack looked up at Geoff and grinned as the song hit the chorus and grinned at him.   

“All I know is I was enchanted to meet you” she sang along quietly to him, rubbing her thumb along his cheekbone gently, and she watched as tears sprung to his eyes again and she leaned her head on his shoulder as they swayed together to the music.

And then quietly Geoff was singing some of the lyrics back to her “And this is me praying that this is the very first page, not where the storyline ends” and when Jack looked up at him through her bangs he was grinning at her.

“You actually listened to it” she said quietly, she had never imagined he really would.

“Of course I did” he said “You said it reminded you of us, so of course I did, and it reminded me too” he said, stroking a curl out of her eyes “I may never listen to another Taylor Swift song again, but I liked this one okay” he said, and Jack was laughing as the song came to an end and they moved slowly apart from each other.

And just like it says in the song, that night was sparkling.

-

Compared to their wedding reception the Christmas day their little crew shared a few days later was quiet, subdued. They slept in late, and Gavin put on the coffee when he got up first in the morning, knowing Geoff and Michael would want some when they get up, and put the kettle on for himself, and Jack was down in the kitchen a few minutes later, pulling mugs down for them and yawning. The night before she and Geoff had put out all of their gifts and filled the stockings before going to bed, and it looked like Gavin had done his and Michael’s when he’d gotten up because the underside of the tree was ridiculously full compared to the night before. It was the biggest Christmas Jack had ever had.

“You know, I think this is the first time I’ve spent Christmas day with a real family” Gavin said absently as he poured boiled water into their mugs for tea. “Course I’ve spent Christmas Eve and Boxing Day with Dan and his mum back in England, but I always had to spend Christmas day with my parents” he said as he stirred milk into his tea after letting it steep.

“My family was like that too” Michael said, sounding tired as he walked into the kitchen, glasses pushed up slightly as he rubbed at his eyes “You had to be home for Christmas day or else you’d be in big goddamn trouble” He shrugged a bit and went over to the coffee pot, pouring himself a mug “S’pose that’s the traditional Catholic lifestyle though” he said, and Gavin nodded a bit.

“It certainly seems like it. I like it better here, feeling comfortable at home, and I don’t need to put on nice clothes before we do presents” he said, looking down at his tight, soft snowflake pyjama pants, a pair that matched Jack’s underneath her pink floral bathrobe. Geoff and Michael both had a similar pair, but more of a soft, loose flannel type than the leggings she and Gavin wore.

“God that was the worst” Michael said, laughing a bit as he put sugar in his coffee “My mom always laid out like special outfits for me and my brothers, and it was always ugly and stupid, I can’t count how many garbage velvety dresses my mom bought for me thinking that year I’d like it and not want to take it off the second company left. Fuck that shit”

“Pyjamas are the best part of Christmas” Jack said, smiling at her two boys, especially getting to be in them all day”

“Amen” Geoff said, wandering into the kitchen last, he kissed Jack’s temple lightly as he walked to the coffee pot to pour himself a mug “If you don’t wear pyjamas all day on Christmas you’re doing it wrong” he said. And with everyone up, and hot drinks made they moved to the living room to paw through stockings and open gifts.

Michael and Gavin loved everything they got. She and Geoff had gone for new jewelry and trapeze lessons and a new professional camera for Gavin, and a few other bits and pieces to help him build his computer. They gave Michael more new clothes, an extra binder so he wasn’t wearing the same two all the time, a soft brown leather jacket to replace the one he’d brought with him from New Jersey because his shoulders were getting too broad for it, and a slip of paper with the date for his top surgery on it.

Jack’s gifts were sentimental, photo frames and a photo album of all the polaroids Gavin and Michael and Annie had taken the day of the wedding, and practical things, some new bunny slippers to replace the ones she’d worn thin, pyjamas, and a screaming pink Hawaiian shirt to replace one she’d lost to accidental laundry shrinkage. And Geoff got books, piles of books, old and new, and a brand new sewing kit, and some soft wool socks Jack could have sworn looked hand made, and Michael may have flushed a little red around the ears when she’d mentioned it.

But most of all, they gave each other love. In that ridiculous house borrowed from a friend, on the first Christmas any of them had spent feeling like a real family in years, they gave each other the best gift any of them could have asked for, a family that loved and cherished them each for who they were, no matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (For those who don't know, if you didn't google it, a Cadeuces is the medical symbol, you know, the winger staff with the two intertwining snakes, a fun fact about that; it's the symbol of the Greek God Hermes, I can't remember why his symbol became the medical symbol, but now you know)  
> Ooh! Inspiration (and a lil bit of kinda-plagiarism, she gave me permission to use it) for Jack and Geoff's vows are thanks to my lovely friend and mutual Kristin, wonderfullywicked, over on Tumblr, she posted her own take on the wedding back in November and I loved the vows she used so I asked if I could steal them!  
> Also, for anyone wondering where I got the tattoo idea, Geoff mentions in his RT Doc The Tattooist that when he and Griffin got married (RIP that lovely relationship, I hope they're both happier now tho) instead of getting wedding rings they got traditional marriage tattoos where the artist uses the same needle on both partners (which is technically illegal, I'm not endorsing it, they are criminals in this au after all) but I thought it'd be a nice nod to RL Geoff to put in him and Jack getting marriage tattoos


	4. Ryan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone thought that the Vagabond was dead, he dropped off the face of the earth a few months ago, never to be heard from again.  
> Until one morning in January when Jack found yet another boy in need of her help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S HERE, RYAN'S CHAPTER IS HERE, IT'S FINALLY DONE AND JAMES RYAN HAYWOOD CAN GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY BRAIN THANK GOD.  
> This chapter has been a bit of a struggle guys, not gonna lie, mostly because I just had so many thoughts and feelings about Ryan, and so many things that I wanted to have in this chapter, so it's super long, and it's taken me A G E S to get through it, but with it all said and done I'm happy with this chapter and I hope you guys like it. So get comfy, grab a drink, maybe a snack, and put on a podcast or something cause this is gonna be a marathon of a read.   
> Over 18000 words.  
> 23 pages.  
> And a reasonable bit of angst in Ryan's past, but it's here.  
> Now Ryan get get the fuck out of my head, his rent is a month overdue and now he's getting evicted.

It was a very long time before anyone else joined the crew. They had been doing jobs for themselves, and working with others when and how they could, and things were going well. Jack and Geoff had signed a lease on a penthouse apartment with a view of the waterfront uptown Geoff had had his eye on since he and Jack started working together, and they were in the midst of moving when she found him.

It was late January, a year after her and Geoff’s wedding, and their first Christmas together. They had celebrated their anniversary quietly with their boys at a nice restaurant downtown, and Jack had gotten maybe a little bit too tipsy on champagne, something Geoff teased her about endlessly, having been sober and fully aware the whole night. He had stopped drinking not long after their wedding, and Jack was proud of him for it, she knew it’d been difficult for him to make that decision, but ever since he stopped he hadn’t touched a single drink, and she couldn’t have been prouder of him.

In the year that had passed a lot had happened, they had celebrated birthdays, another Christmas, Michael had gotten his top surgery, and life had been going swimmingly, and as a four man crew they were earning enough, steadily enough, to have a hefty amount in the bank at all times, something to the tune of five hundred thousand last Jack had checked, and the number was always rising.

But they hadn’t gained any new members.

Jack had made a little bit of a habit of frequenting certain areas of the city that might yield a new member, someone who needed them, because they needed someone new too. Jack loved her little family, but it somehow felt like there were still people missing, and she wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Michael and Gavin, too, felt like someone else should be with them, especially as they moved into the new penthouse with it’s seven bedrooms, more than enough for the four of them, and plenty of space for all kinds of work spaces they might want to put in.

It was funny, in retrospect, that Jack found exactly who they were looking for on the way to the new penthouse.

She was stuck in traffic, listening to the radio with a trunk full of their packed up things to bring over to the new place. She and Geoff had begun packing up the smaller things to start moving back and forth, books, extra clothes and shoes, linens, and their Christmas and Halloween decorations, since they were typically in storage most of the year, it’d be a good idea to move them first. More important things would come later, framed pictures and sentimental things, her and Geoff’s arm chairs from way back at the old brownstone walk-up, and the other furniture they were keeping in the move. For now it was little things, and with her boys busy doing a bit of shooting down at the range, something that, while she enjoyed it, Jack had decided to sit out, she figured she would start moving some things over. She usually loved to accompany her boys to the shooting range, especially now that Michael and Gavin together had gifted her a beautiful new rose gold plated pistol for Christmas, which she’d yet to use, and the range would have been a good place to test it out, but she just had a feeling that she needed to be elsewhere.

And it was while she was sitting in traffic that she saw him.

His head was down, shoulders hunched in on himself, and he was walking with an awkward gait that made Jack think his ankle, or his leg in general, was injured. She watched him stick to the shadows of the buildings as he walked, cradling one arm against his chest, long hair, blond at the top, but a faded black beneath the base of his neck, hiding his face where the sun hit it.

Jack was immediately both concerned, and curious. She couldn’t make out any proper details of his face from where she sat in the traffic lineup, but just his body language concerned her, he looked frightened, paranoid from the way he was holding himself as he walked as fast as his injured leg would take him.

Behind her someone beeped their horn and she realized the light ahead of her had turned green, she jolted in her seat, shook her head, and pressed her foot down on the gas, getting just in front of the man on the sidewalk before putting her blinker on and pulling over to the curb. She watched the traffic pass her on the driver’s side, and decided against getting out that way, and slid across the center console, and got out of the car on the passenger side, leaving it idling just in case.

She approached the man slowly, making sure her hands were visibly empty. He faced the ground as he walked, and Jack was a little nervous to try and catch his attention.

The poor thing looked almost feral in his obvious paranoia.

“Do you need help?” she asked, keeping her voice soft, unassuming, trying to make herself as unthreatening as she possibly could, but the man’s head still whipped up and his eyes were wild as he looked at her, and somehow Jack was unsurprised to see that he had heterochromatic eyes, one a bright blue and the other an almost golden sort of green that reminded her vaguely of Gavin’s gold rimmed green eyes. She held her hands up slowly as she took a step towards him where he had stopped on the sidewalk. “I’m unarmed” she said, and for once it wasn’t a lie, her pistol, the one from Geoff, not her boys, was in the glove compartment of her car and she didn’t have a knife on her at all, which was unusual to say the least. She watched his eyes skim over her, trying to assess if she was telling the truth “I promise I won’t hurt you” she said “I’m a nurse, I just want to help, will you let me help you?” she asked, keeping her voice low and gentle, a tone she hadn’t used consistently since she worked at the ER. It was a tone of voice she had reserved for small children who were clearly scared and didn’t know what was happening, and women who had managed to escape from abusive spouses and take their battered bodies into the hospital. It was a tone she had developed specially to get the most nervous, most paranoid, most traumatized patients to trust her.

And it worked.

The man brushed his hair back from his face with his uninjured arm, swept his gaze around the sidewalk and alleyways around them, and slowly, nervously, gave her a tight nod. Jack gave him a gentle, reassuring smile and reached out to gently squeeze his uninjured arm, he flinched slightly at the movement, but said nothing and didn’t move away from the gesture.

“I’m parked just over there” she said, pointing back to her car “I’m on my way to my family’s new place, it’s empty if you’d like to go there” she said, there was something about him that made her feel like she needed to take him somewhere more secluded. He gave her another short nod “Alright, just follow me okay, and when we get there I’ll have a look at your injuries, okay?” she asked as she started walking, the man followed, looming over her, so tall and legs so long that even limping he was keeping easy pace with her.

“My husband and our boys are out right now, but they won’t be at this apartment just yet, we’re still moving in there, so it’ll be just you permanently living there for a little bit” she said as they got into the car, after she had taken a moment to watch the traffic slow to a safe enough level she felt comfortable going around to the driver’s side. She watched as he folded himself into her passenger seat awkwardly, considerably longer in the legs than Michael, who had been the last person to ride shotgun in her car, and he leaned down to pull the release to give himself more space.

Jack waited for him to buckle in before she pulled out into considerably thinner traffic.

-

The drive over had been silent save the quiet buzzing of the radio. In a similar way to Michael there was something about this man’s air that kept her from starting conversation, not because he made her nervous, Jack had far bigger things to feel nervous about, an ever present warrant for her arrest, a ten-thousand dollar reward for information on her and her whereabouts, for example, the large man in her passenger seat, clearly exhausted and eyes fixed on the little Hawaiian dancer on her dashboard glazed and almost unseeing, was absolutely no threat to her. But the poor man just seemed so out of it that she knew he likely wouldn’t say a word, and from their exchange on the street, she was sure she wouldn’t be able to pull a word from him if she tried.

And that was fine by her. Sometimes people needed time to warm up, to acclimate themselves to their new surroundings after something traumatic. Gavin had had a hard time talking for a little while too, not to complete silence, no, because Gavin was utterly incapable of complete silence, bless him, but still, quiet and nervous all the same as he processed his rough exit from England, and subsequent rougher entrance to the US.

So she stayed quiet as they drove, until they reached the new building, and drove into the guarded parking garage. She parked next to Geoff’s old truck, they had decided to transfer it to the new place first to use it back and forth to move bigger boxes because the poor old thing didn’t get used very much anymore. With the money they were getting she and Geoff had both gotten new cars, nothing too flashy, but brand new off the lot cars that were infinitely more reliable than her Honda, which was older than Gavin by nearly a decade, and Geoff’s old Ford, which he’d inherited from his mother when she’d passed away when Geoff was twenty, and she’d had that truck almost as long as Geoff had been alive. The truck still ran well enough, but it was known to stall in wet weather, and just not start occasionally until it was jumped. But Geoff refused to get rid of it, and Jack couldn’t blame him.

She slid out of her car and popped her trunk with the button on her keys, and pulled out her secondary, mobile, medical kit, she would deal with the other contents that needed bringing upstairs once the man was patched up, and put to bed.

She thanked god that they had already mostly furnished the bedrooms, especially the guest rooms so that the poor man had a place to lay down and sleep, because he looked utterly exhausted.

She watched him unfold himself from the car and push himself up with his good hand, gingerly putting weight onto his left foot, testing to see if it would hold.

“Did you roll it?” She asked, brows furrowed, the man simply nodded and shut the door behind himself. “Alright, I’ll wrap it up when we get upstairs, don’t worry, there’s an elevator” she said, knowing that the building was ten floors and absurdly tall, and they were at the very top.

The man gave a slight nod and followed her through the parking garage to a door that led into the building itself.

Jack was used to tall people, all over he boys were nearly six feet tall, if not there, but this man loomed taller than even Gavin, the tallest of their little crew, by quite a bit, though his hunched shoulders hid that fact at least a little, Jack knew he wasn’t really as small as he was trying to make himself. It was a little intimidating to say the least, but Jack was not one to be cowed, and she never had been, years of putting up with shitty people, drunken assholes, and abusive partners trying to pretend they hadn’t hit their wife or child, and Jack was five feet and two inches of pure, unadulterated protective instinct and reckless abandon, and she blatantly refused to be scared. This man needed her and by God she was going to help him.

The elevator ride upstairs was just as silent as the rest of their time together had been, and Jack found herself comfortable in it, the man in no position to harm her really, and they were in well populated apartments after all.

The elevator stopped at the penthouse suit, and Jack pulled a key out of the back pocket of her shorts, twisting it into a small lock on the pad of buttons, and the doors slid open, allowing herself and the man into the apartment.

The elevator doors opened into a small hallway with white walls and beige carpets, and a singular door, a bright white with a golden plaque nailed to the wood that simply read 1001. She walked towards it and unlocked the door as well, pushing it open and beckoning the man inside behind her.

The front door led into a massive living area that boasted a comfortable seating area, a dark marble fireplace, and a massive wall of floor to ceiling windows at the opposite end that had a view of the water front. A view that Geoff had been promising her for nearly four years.

But somehow, it wasn’t as ostentatious as Jack would have thought, with it’s massive black L-shaped couch facing the fireplace and a television mounted above it, the couch was new, but the coffee table in front of it was Jack’s from her old apartment before Geoff, it was dark wood with a few chips here and there on the surface, when they had bought the couch, Geoff had suggested a lovely glass topped table, and Jack had simply shaken her head, because with Gavin and Michael in the house a glass table wouldn’t have lasted a week.

When the man came in behind her she shut the door and toed off her shoes by the entrance, and padded her way across the room and towards and small nook in behind the couch where there was a set of bar stools and a small wet bar, it was nothing fancy, she wasn’t much of a drinker, and Geoff had quit, but Michael and Gavin were known to have a bev now and then, and it was always good for company.

She got him settled onto one of the stools and crouched down to pull a heavy leather boot off his left foot, he gave no objection beyond a slight flinch of discomfort to have the massive boot pulled off his foot, and she pulled his sock off as well, rolling up the bottom of a slightly tattered pant leg, and probed with gentle fingers around the joint, feeling for any breaks or possible large fractures underneath the swelling. Finding nothing but a strained muscle and a lot of swelling towards his heel, likely caused by an awkward landing in those big boots, she pulled an ace bandage out of her medical kit and started wrapping his ankle tightly to try and reduce movement as much as she could.

“We’ll get some ice on that shortly, but it’s your arm I’m really worried about” she said, standing from her crouch to examine his arm, finding herself at perfect height to examine it with him on the stool, finding herself face to face with his shoulder.

She started at the fingers, prodding around his hand to make sure nothing was amiss there, though broken hands and fingers were typically the most obvious, and moved her way up his arm from there.

His wrist was fine, if slightly swollen from some impact, nothing that needed immediate care though, as was his forearm, bones fully intact beneath warm toned skin speckled with fine blond hair, the joint at his elbow also seemed just fine, and Jack was finding herself feeling puzzled.

And then she pushed back his jacket to take a look at his upper arm and she gasped without meaning to.

His shoulder was badly disjointed, pushed slightly forward by who knew what, and she could see that his bicep was starting to bruise from muscle strain.

“Alright, well” she said, letting out a loud breath “This is gonna hurt like hell my friend” she rubbed her hands together, and wiped sweaty palms on the front of her Hawaiian shirt. “Nothing I can’t fix, but I need to figure out just how badly you’ve fucked yourself” she said, keeping her voice cheerful. The man gave a short nod and Jack watched his jaw work as it clenched and unclenched, as if he were trying to work up to speech but couldn’t manage to pass the words over his tongue.

Slowly, and as gently as she could, she started probing around the top of his disjointed shoulder, testing the joint to see just how swollen it was, and how difficult it’d be to work it back into the socket.

From the bruising on his upper arm she could assume that the disjointure was violent, but upon closer inspection it looked like the bruises weren’t caused by the disjointure itself, but by something else. Possibly the person who had caused his shoulder to pop out of it’s socket, but she couldn’t be sure.

The swelling was heavy, but not detrimental to popping his arm back into the socket, so his arm had been dislocated for only a short while, no more than twelve hours or so she thought, because otherwise it would be practically impossible for her to do it herself, and it’d be hard as it was already. He was a big man, with quite big arms, and the dislocated arm was a completely dead weight.

“Alright” she said, after finishing her assessment “I can put this back into place myself, or I can take you into a hospital, you choose” she said, the man’s eyes widened and she watched him swallow hard, and then he pointed at her with his uninjured hand “Alright, then let’s get started. First off all” she said, rummaging in her medical kit “You need to take these” she produced a prescription bottle of heavy duty painkillers and held it out to him “For your size, I’d say two of those should be about right, but start with one, and let me know in a few minutes if it helps” she said, he nodded, and she shook a pill out into his hand, and he dry swallowed it with little problem.   
She waited several long minutes for the painkiller to begin taking effect before she spoke again.

“And how’s that feel?” she asked, the man raised his uninjured arm and shook his hand slightly side to side in a so-so motion “That means two is what you need than” she said, producing another pill for him, he took it, and they waited again.

The painkillers were a necessity with this kind of dislocation, the arm was heavy when it was dead weight, and put significant stress on the dislocated joint that cause significantly more pain that any other disjointed joint. Once the man let her know that the painkillers were working, with a, somewhat woozy, thumbs up, she got back to work.

She took hold of his wrist and slowly maneuvered his arm to get it to line up with the socket again, she kept hold of his wrist with one hand and reached out to prod gently at the tissue between open socket and joint to make sure there was nothing vital in the way, and that she was lined up correctly. Finding everything acceptably put together she gripped his wrist tighter, and grabbed his elbow with her other hand, and with a heave, a heavy push, and a grunt, the ball of his humerus slid back into its socket with as much ease as the swollen muscles around the joint would allow.  Immediately the man let out a sigh of relief, his head lolling forward. Jack wiped the sweat from her brow, and did one last prodding check of the joint, the muscles were becoming more swollen from her agitating it, but from what she could tell it had popped back into the socket as perfectly as it possibly could have. “Alright, wonderful” she said as she stepped back “Just give me one second so I can get some bindings, we’re gonna tie that arm to your waist okay? You can’t use it for a few days, and it’s best if we just bind it now to make sure it doesn’t disjoint again” She said, the man gave a slightly awkward nod, and she slid him around so that he could lean his weight into the bar in front of him.

When she returned a few moments later with some proper bandages from the bathroom and her main first aid kit, the man was dozing with his face mashed into the bar’s counter. She sat him up gently and bound his arm tightly to his body, tying the binding at his waist and just under his uninjured arm.

She then helped him off of the bar stool and helped him stagger down the hallway and into one of the guest rooms. She deposited him on the bed, and threw a quilt from the foot of the bed over him instead of trying to get the duvet out from under him, she shut the curtains and turned the light out to let the painkillers put him into a dreamless sleep now that his adrenaline was running out, and she went to call Geoff.

-

It took her some time to get a hold of Geoff. She had settled herself down in the corner of the couch in the living room and had lit a fire in the fireplace, trying to settle her nerves a bit.

Something about the man had unsettled her, not enough that she wouldn’t help him, but in a way that she knew made him need her help all the more.

Through all of that he hadn’t made a single sound. Not when she’d spoken to him, not when she’d been prodding at his strained ankle, and not even when she had shoved his shoulder back into it’s socket. Not a single sound, and at the very least he should have cried out when she’d put the joint back together, but he hadn’t made a sound.

Jack was beginning to wonder if he really was mute by traumatic means or genetic. Perhaps he just hadn’t used his voice in so long he no longer knew how, but she couldn’t really be sure until he felt safe enough to attempt a conversation.

When she finally got Geoff on the phone he and the boys were in the car, and he had her on speaker on Blutooth.

“What’s up babe? How’s the moving going? You get the books inside okay, I know those boxes were heavy”

“Hi Jack!” Michael and Gavin chimed in as Geoff finished.

“Hey guys” she said, smiling a little at how happy they sounded “I actually didn’t get a chance to get the books in just yet…” she said, pausing, trying to think about how to phrase it “Got a little side tracked”

“And what do you mean by sidetracked?” Geoff asked, and she could almost hear his eyebrow raise in question.

“Well…” she said, drawing the word out at length.

“Does sidetracked mean sidetracked like when you found Gav in an alley?” Geoff asked, tone rye.

“Maybe…” she smiled a bit when Geoff let out a long, playful sigh “Hey, you said as long as I called you it was fine!” she argued.

“We haven’t really got the room right now babe”

“Of course we have! I’m at the penthouse with him right now, he’s asleep in one of the guest rooms” she said simply.

“Do you know his name at least?” Geoff asked, at least a little wary.

“Well… no, we were a little busy” she said “His shoulder was dislocated and I had to reset it, and he’s conked out from the adrenaline crash now, but it’s weird babe, he doesn’t talk, at all, I’m not sure if he was born that way, or maybe he’s too heavily traumatized to say a word, but I do know he’s not deaf because he responded to me speaking without looking at my face, and when I approached him he whipped his head up when I asked if he needed help”

“Is he safe?” Gavin asked, sounding concerned.

“Well, with one of his arms strapped to his side he’s not much of a threat to me, especially since I know the house layout and he doesn’t”

“As long as you’re sure” Michael said doubtfully.

“I am” she replied, a warm feeling spreading in the pit of her stomach at the concern of her boys.

“Are you gonna be home tonight babe?” Geoff asked, still sounding unsure.

“I don’t think so, I think I’m gonna stay here at the penthouse to keep an eye one him, make sure he’s gonna be alright” she said, feeling a little guilty, she knew the boys would be fine at the other apartment for the night, but she did feel bad because she hadn’t seen them all day.

“Do you want us to stop by? Or just me? I could bring you guys up some dinner or something, I know there’s no real food at the penthouse” Geoff offered.

“That’d be nice baby, thank you” she said, smiling into the phone, she really was lucky to have a man like him by her side.

“Alright, I’ll come by a little later, okay?” he said “Do you think you’ll be back any time this week?”

“I’m not sure, and besides, we were planning on moving in here by next week anyway, so we can always just move things up a few days” she said, picking at a fraying spot on the bottom of her shorts “Couldn’t we? I mean we haven’t got anything planned for this week, so why not just get in here a little earlier than planned? It’s already ours”

There was silence on the other end for a few moments, Gavin and Michael murmuring quietly to each other.

“I think we should” Gavin said finally “I want to get in there already anyway, Michael snores and I want to have my own room again” he said, and then there was a high-pitched yelp as, presumably, Michael smacked him.

“I’d like to get my own room too, I’m tired of not having any room in the closet or dresser for my stuff cause Mr. Princess over here shops like he’s gonna die tonight” Michael said affectionately.

“I don’t see why not, I mean all the furniture’s there except the sentimental stuff, we just need to get books and blueprints and clothes and shit packed, shouldn’t be too hard to get done in a couple days” he paused, and when he spoke again Jack could hear the smile in his voice “At least, if I can get these two shit heads to actually lend a hand” there were general noises of both protest and defence from Gavin and Michael, claiming they would be happy to help get things packed, and that Gavin had already started packing up some of his clothes.

“Alright, alright, boys, stop arguing, I know you’ll help, and Geoff and I both appreciate it” she said, trying to appease the two.

Geoff just laughed.

“Alright, then I had better find your room fully packed up no later than tomorrow night” he said simply.

“Fine” Michael said, and Jack could practically see his crossed arms “And it’ll be done way before then”

“I’d love to see that” Geoff said.

“Alright you three, I know we’re moving outta that apartment, but if I find out you three burned it to the ground having some dumb fight over the state of packing your rooms are in I won’t bail you out of jail” she said, laughing at the indignant noises her boys made on the other end of the phone. “Okay, I’ll see you boys later okay, don’t kill each other” she said affectionately.

“Bye Jack!” Gavin and Michael said together.

“See you later babe” Geoff said.

“Love you”

“Love you too” they hung up, and Jack settled in on the couch again, to wait for the man in the guest room to wake up.

-

It was dark out by the time there was any stirring from the guest room. Geoff hadn’t come by yet, but she assumed he was busy corralling the boys into packing their things, and was perfectly fine with that, she could be sure he’d come by before long.

She was sitting on the couch watching the news when the man came out of the guest room, stumbling a little, off his balance without use of his left arm. She pulled her eyes away from a news story about how a whole gang, including its notorious boss, had been found dead in a safehouse on the southside of downtown Los Santos, and found the man standing just behind the couch, staring at the screen with a look of horror and anger in his eyes.

“Were you with them?” she asked, recognizing the look in his eyes. He nodded slightly. “Was that you?” she asked, her voice soft. Again, he nodded, and she noticed tears in his eyes, and when he realized she had noticed he made a quiet noise, clearing his throat, and wiped at his eyes.

“Can you tell me why?” she asked, he paused, swallowing hard, before he mimed writing something down “Uh, I think I have a notepad in my purse, just gimme a sec” she said, unfolding her legs and getting up off the couch, she hurried over to the small table by the door and rummaged through her purse, managing to find a notepad and about four pens in the bottom of her purse, two of which were dead. She handed the pad and a working pen to him.

“Before you tell me what happened, what’s your name?” she asked, she hated just thinking of him as ‘the man’ it made him feel like a stranger who would never stay around, and she didn’t like that.

He scribbled down something on the paper and handed the notepad to her.

_Ryan Haywood_ was chicken scratched across the top of the page, and something about his name seemed familiar to her, but she couldn’t quite place it.

“Well Ryan, I’m Jack, Jack Pattillo-Ramsey” she said, offering her hand, Ryan took it and gave it a quick shake before dropping her hand and giving her a quizzical look.

“It’s short for Jaclyn” she said “But I prefer Jack” he nodded slightly, and bent his head to write something on the notepad again after she passed it back.

_Have you got anything to drink?_ He asked on the notepad, and Jack nodded.

“We’ve got water of course, but there’s also some Diet Coke in the fridge, and a variety of whiskeys and wines in the bar, but you can’t have any of that anyway coming off of those pain meds” she said, leading him down the hall to the kitchen entrance.

_Diet Coke would be good_ he said, and Jack smiled.

“Alright, one can of Coke, coming up” she said, and turned to pull a can out of the fridge, and passed it to him, before grabbing one for herself. “Okay, so, what exactly happened that led up to me finding you this afternoon?” she asked as they walked back to the couch. There was a long silence between them as they sat and he wrote, the news droning in the background.

When it was all done Ryan had filled three of the small pages back to front, and he passed it to her, hand shaking.

_I worked with them for awhile. They hired me on for a hit a few months ago and then kept me on as their own personal assassin for hire. It was fine for awhile and then it got bad. I was alone for a lot of years working for myself as a mercenary. I’d been doing that for a long time, and then they hired me and offered to keep me on, I figured why not, and joined up._

_They were god awful. If I couldn’t carry out a hit exactly how they wanted I’d get in trouble. I wasn’t allowed to talk on jobs as an enforcer, wasn’t allowed to talk in general, wasn’t allowed to hide my face the way I used to, I don’t know why they did that, but they did._

_I tried to leave once, a month ago, packed my bag and tried to sneak out, go work for myself again, but some young guy, thought he could go places, pulls the alarm when he saw me gone, goes straight to the boss. Boss sends a posse to track me down, and they pretty much dragged me back by my hair. I was caught off guard or I would’ve killed them all right then. But I waited._

_And then two days ago the boss comes into my room in the safehouse, starts screaming about how I killed the wrong guy, but I knew I hadn’t, I knew I killed the right person, but the boss wasn’t having it, and I couldn’t argue back because my voice wouldn’t work anymore and he wouldn’t have listened anyway. So I killed him. Took him by the throat and slammed his head into the wall, and that was it. The rest of the safehouse was quiet, everyone in it was either asleep, or wasted, some both. And I took my knife and I went through every room and did what I had to do. It was all me, by myself, if you wanna call the cops go ahead, I’d welcome jail. Hell, we’ve got the death penalty here, I’d fucking welcome it._

_They needed to die, all of them, when you hire someone you can’t just beat the shit out of them for not doing a job how you think it should be done, especially when you don’t know shit about assassination work. That boss didn’t know shit about anything, he didn’t deserve the presence he had. He fucking deserved to die._

_And maybe so do I, but I’m glad he went out first._

Jack looked up at him when she finished reading, and the look of shock on his face made her realize that her anger had twisted her face, and from the way he looked at her, lit a fire in her eyes. For a man over a foot taller than her she didn’t think it would be possible to be that intimidated by her, but it looked like he was.

“You’re right.” She said simply, tearing the pages from the notepad, tucking them into her pocket “They did fucking deserve it.”

Ryan’s face slackened with relief, and he took the notepad back, scribbling something down.

_You won’t turn me in?_ said the note, and Jack burst out laughing without even meaning to, she pressed a hand over her mouth to quell the giggles, and shook her head.

“No sweetie, that wasn’t even a thought, do you know who I am?” She asked, grinning. Ryan shook his head, blond brows pulled together in confusion over those odd eyes, and her grin widened.

She held out her left hand to him, thumb up, showing the small Q tattooed in playing card script on her hand just above the thumb. And suddenly a look of recognition crossed his face as he studied the tattoo, and looked back up at her.

“Why, I’m the Queen of Los Santos of course” she said, a wicked grin lighting her face “My husband, I told you about him earlier, is the King” she said, and suddenly the apprehension that had settled itself in his features melted away, and his grin matched hers, and he bent his head to scribble something onto the notepad.

_Vagabond_ the note said simply, and Jack cocked her head slightly, raising an eyebrow, and Ryan reached down, pulling a rubber mask out of his pocket, tucking his hair back into a ponytail, he pulled the black skull mask over his face and straightened his shoulders. Jack gasped, eyes wide.

“We all thought you were dead” she said, her voice low, awed “You just disappeared” she said quietly, almost at a loss for words. Ryan nodded slightly and pulled the mask off, writing something else down quickly, he hesitated before handing the pad to Jack, but he did.

_They thought I was too recognizable I suppose, they didn’t want the Vagabond, just his skills, they didn’t want me, just my kill count_ it said, and he looked almost sad, but his jaw was set, trying to hide it.

“Well, Vagabond or not, you’re welcome here” she said gently, reaching out to squeeze his knee gently “We’re a little bit like a family here, if you want to leave you can, but you’re more than welcome to stay, whether you want to participate in our work or not” she said, giving him a little smile.

_How many of you are there now? Last time I checked it was just two, but you mentioned boys?_

Jack smiled when he passed her the note.

“It’s four of us now, Geoff and I, and two boys, Gavin and Michael, they’re young, both just twenty” she said “Gavin’s been with us two and a half years, and Michael about a year, give or take a month or so. Gavin goes by Prince in our little theme, Michael picked Mogar on his own, no idea where he got that from. I’ve got pictures of them somewhere if you’d like to see” she said, Ryan nodded slightly, looking interested but puzzled. “Okay, just gimme one sec, I think it’s in a box in the library” she said, there was another lovely fireplace in the room they were designating a library, and Jack wanted to put some small sentimental photos in there that they hadn’t had up at the old place. She stood quickly from the couch and shoved her feet into the slippers she had shoved slightly under the couch, and took off down the hall opposite from where she had set Ryan up in earlier that afternoon.

At the very end of the hall was a door that was slightly ajar, inside there were several smallish boxes, many of them full to the brim with books and comics and old magazines, one though, that Jack had already begun unpacking, held pictures, a lot of which they had brought from their lives before the crew, and Jack started rummaging gently through the assortment of frames, pulling out a few.

The first that she handed to Ryan was from her and Geoff’s wedding night, but it wasn’t actually one of their wedding pictures, it was of Geoff holding Jack’s hand as the artist who had done their marriage tattoos worked the needle across her skin, the space above Geoff’s thumb where his K lay had already been covered with a wrap, his right hand holding Jacks, it was the first time she’d gotten her hands tattooed and it’d hurt like a motherfucker.

“That’s Geoff, holding my hand” she said “Though I’m sure you know some of him from the news and gang circles and whatever” Ryan set the photograph down on the mantelpiece of the fireplace and Jack handed up another photo, this one of Gavin and Dan, taken only a few months before Gavin had fled to the US.

“The one with the blond hair and the bird nose is Gavin, the dark-haired boy with him is his B, Dan, a friend of theirs took it at their apartment back in London before Gavin came here” she explained, and Ryan cocked his head to the side, indicating curiosity “He had a bad fallout with his old gang there and had to leave on short notice, it’s not really my story to tell” she said, shrugging a bit “You can ask him yourself when he and Michael come by at some point, the two of them don’t go anywhere without the other” she said fondly.

The third photo she handed up to him out of the box was of Michael before he left New Jersey, and before his ‘official’ transition, the Michael in the picture was rounder faced, and had long curly hair tucked up under a beanie, and was wearing a loose fitting Zelda t-shirt, but otherwise didn’t look terribly different, he had the same look about his eyes, and set of his mouth in a big goofy grin, and of course the freckles. He wasn’t alone in the picture though, he was with a girl who was significantly shorter than him, she wore black thick-rimmed glasses and had bright red hair that looked like it had a bit of blue in the ends from an old dye-job, Michael hadn’t talked about the girl much, but had said that she was the only person who had known who he really was back in Jersey.

She remembered vaguely that her name was Meg.

Ryan looked at that photo for a long time, looking slightly perplexed at the young woman standing with Michael in the picture. He pointed at her in question, brows knit together.

“I don’t know much about her, Michael knew her before he came here, she worked as the manager at a business his father ran as a front for some other nonsense the mob down there was into at the time, he says she was his only real friend then, her name’s Meg, but he hasn’t heard from her since before he left, she just up and disappeared one day a year or so before Michael left home” Ryan nodded slightly as he finally set the photo down. “She look familiar to you?” Ryan gave a non-comital shrug with his uninjured shoulder, brows still furrowed together. Jack was just about to say something else when she heard the front door open, and she immediately brightened, grinning wide “That’ll be Geoff” she said happily, moving towards the door.

“Hey Jackie! Where are you?” Geoff called from the doorway.

“Just back in the library baby, I’ll be out there in a sec!” she called back, leading Ryan out of the room. She bustled back out into the main room and grinned at the sight of Geoff standing in the entrance way, bogged down with a few Tupperware containers and a bag full of Chinese takeout boxes. Jack laughed a little at the awkward dance Geoff was doing to try and keep his balance while toeing his shoes off, and went to his rescue, grabbing the bag and one of the containers out of his hands and placing a quick kiss on his cheek.

“Thank you baby” she said, smiling at him.

“No problem Queenie” he said, leaning down to peck her lips lightly after he finally got his shoes off. He looked up over her head at Ryan and raised an eyebrow “Can’t say I expected someone this fuckin massive babe” he said simply, offering a hand to Ryan “I’m Geoff” he said.

Ryan took his hand and shook quickly.

“This is Ryan” Jack said, setting her hand gently on Geoff’s arm “He’s uh, not much of a talker” she said, trying to stay charitable to Ryan’s current muteness, Geoff nodded slightly, sizing Ryan up a bit.

“Well Ryan, it’s good to have your around, big guy like you would be invaluable, if you’re up for a part in things” Geoff said, smiling a bit. Ryan nodded slightly, offering him a somewhat awkward smile back, and scribbled something down quickly.

_Well we’ll see about joining in once I can use my arm without your wife yelling at me_ the note said when he handed it to Geoff, who let out a small snort of laughter.

“Yup, that’s my Jackie, truly the mama bear none of us ever expected” he said affectionately, kissing her head lightly “Isn’t that right my love?” he asked, smiling down at her, she grinned back and squeezed his hand gently.

“Don’t mock the mama bear, you know you’d never be here without me” she teased.

“You’re damn right I wouldn’t be” he said, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her into a hug.

_Where are the other two?_ Ryan asked in a short note to Jack under the bottom of the last one.

“Well, I guess they’re at the old place, causing trouble I expect” she said fondly.

“They’re packing up their room for the move” Geoff said “They wanna be in here by the weekend now that there’s a good incentive to leave the old place” he said “Knowing that there’s someone new here, and that you’re staying around made them anxious to leave I guess”

“They don’t like to be left out of things” Jack explained to Ryan, who looked puzzled “The two of them always like to be in the center of the action if not _the_ center of the action” she said, smiling, and Ryan made a real sound for the first time, letting out a short, raspy little chuckle, and seemed very surprised himself when he realized the sound had come from him.

“Alright, well, why don’t we continue this conversation in the kitchen, I’m fuckin starved, and your sweet and sour chicken is gonna get cold babe” Geoff said, nodding to the take-out bag in her hand. Jack nodded and the three of them walked out to the kitchen to sit down and eat.

-

“So what’s the deal with him?” Geoff asked later that night when they had curled up in their new master bedroom in a set of armchairs by the window. Jack stared outside for a long moment, considering her words before she spoke.

“He came a from a bad crew” she said “Did you watch the news tonight?” she asked, looking over at him.

“Yeah, we always watch the news”

“Did you see the story about the crew found dead downtown?” she asked, keeping her voice steady.

“Yeah, it was the top story…” Geoff said, trailing off “Wait, that was _Ryan_?” he asked, almost shocked.

“Yup, that was Ryan”

“ _By himself_?” Geoff asked incredulously.

“Completely by himself” she confirmed, handing him the little pile of papers from Ryan’s notepad. He read them slowly, trying to take everything in.

“Well I’ll be damned, I thought a big motherfucker like that would be a helpful presence, but damn babe, I never expected this” he said, his voice awed “And you’re _sure_ he’s safe to be here?”

“I’m one-hundred per cent sure” she said “He needs people who care, the only reason he did all of this is because that gang acted like he was a bad dog, the poor guy’s traumatized” she said, standing from her chair, she couldn’t stand to be stationary anymore.

“Well, I can’t pretend I’m not a little nervous about him, but the last two boys you brought home worked out pretty fuckin well” he said, watching her as she paced “And I mean clearly he’s got some kinda skills, if he wants to work with us he’s welcome to” he said.

“You don’t even understand how skilled he is” she said “Do you recognize anything about him at all?” she asked.

“Well the hair’s a little familiar I guess, but I can’t imagine a big motherfucker like that would be hard to miss, but I can’t say I’ve ever seen someone in our business that tall”

“Vagabond.” Jack said simply “Told me himself earlier, he even has the mask”

“Okay wait, babe, you brought the fucking _Vagabond_ home?!” Geoff asked, voice awed “ _The_ fucking _Vagabond_?”

“Yes babe, _the_ Vagabond”

“I thought he was dead, he went completely radio silent for ages” he said, his voice quiet.

“They wouldn’t let him disguise himself, they didn’t want him to be recognizable” she said “I didn’t know when I picked him up though, he told me after he woke up from the adrenaline crash, when he told me what happened to him.” Geoff nodded slightly, looking utterly awed.

“I just can’t believe he isn’t dead” he said after a moment, “Guy like that, every job that’s pinned on him? It wouldn’t have been surprising if he had died”

“I think he would rather have been dead” she said quietly “He was ready to die babe” her voice came out somewhat hoarse, choked up “If I hadn’t found him he would have been happy to die” she pressed her palms into her eyes, taking a deep breath. It had only just hit her how prepared he had been to die, how much he had wanted to die.

He wouldn’t have even minded if she called the police and got him sentenced to death.

“You’re right babe, he needs us, he needs you” Geoff said gently, standing and pulling her into a tight hug, leaning his chin on the top of her head “You were right to pick him up, you’re always right to pick up these boys, you know on instinct that they need you, and they know it too, otherwise Ryan wouldn’t have got in the car, Michael wouldn’t have sought you out, Gavin wouldn’t have stuck around after he was fixed up” Jack let out a shuddering breath when he hugged her, burying her face in his neck, inhaling the familiar, calming sent of gun oil and his favorite moustache wax and his woody cologne, it helped to ground her, she had never been this upset or scared for one of her boys, Michael had been disowned by his family, no one would come looking, Gavin was too far away for his old gang to bother.

But Ryan had been a gun for hire, a man pulled into a violent gang who treated him like an animal, even lesser than that, and even if the higher ups were dead it was a possibility that others could come after him.

And Ryan was more than willing to die to escape the world, die for his sins, die so that he could have a moment of peace.

And it made Jack’s heart want to burst with how upset she was for him. Ryan didn’t deserve this, didn’t deserve the trauma or the longing for death, or the abuse he’d suffered, even only knowing him a few hours she knew that. There was something else just under the surface, some _one_ else who, deep down, wasn’t just an assassin, a mercenary, a killer, but a human being who deserved more than to think he was only worth his skills with a weapon.

And Jack was determined to prove that to Ryan himself.

-

By Saturday they were officially moved in. All the furniture they planned to keep from the old place was installed into their rooms, her and Geoff’s armchairs put into the library by the fire, what Gavin called his ‘vanity table’ put in his room, and other small items here and there, the kitchen chairs that actually let Jack’s feet touch the floor, her and Geoff’s bedside tables from the very first apartment. And of course a lovely glass topped table display cabinet that she and Geoff kept in their room full of gorgeous knives they had found at pawnshops, famers markets, small knife makers, and antique shops.

The sudden finish of their move in was only jarring because of Ryan’s introduction to her younger two boys.   
Michael and Gavin had entered the penthouse like a bomb, yelling and squawking and arguing already, the two of them were carry Gavin’s vanity table, and Michael was cursing him up and down over how heavy the damn thing was, and screaming about how Gavin should have emptied it out first, and Gavin was replying in indignant squawks and little jabs that he had, and Michael had watched him do it, so he couldn’t even complain about it.

It had gone from complete silence apart from the coffee pot running to complete and utter cacophony in less than a minute.

And at that point it truly felt like they were home.

“Come on guys, already?” Geoff’s voice was already exasperated “It’s like ten am, why are you already yelling?”

“Because _Gavin_ is such a fucking Princess that he needs a hulking fucking oak table just to sit and look at himself!” Michael yelled.

“I don’t _just_ stare at myself in the mirror Michael! I do work at my vanity too!” Gavin said indignantly.

“What fuckin work? Jerkin off?”

“Michael!” Gavin said, scandalized, his face going bright red.

“Alright, that’s quite enough of _that_ ” Jack said quickly before Michael could launch another attack. Gavin shot her a look of relief, but they continued to bicker as they turned down the hall and hauled the table into Gavin’s bedroom. Jack shook her head, putting her face in her hands, shoulders shaking with laughter.

“You’d think they hated each other” Geoff said, laughing.

“God, you really would, can you imagine if they’d known each other as kids? Gavin would have had a black eye permanently” Jack sighed, giggling a bit “And he’d still call Michael his Boi with every bit of love he’s got” she said fondly.

“You’ve got that right” Geoff said, smiling “Coffee’s ready babe, you want a cup before those two make us go help haul their boxes up?”

“Coffee sounds great about now” she said, and they both turned to walk towards the kitchen.

Just behind them, in the entrance to the opposite hall from where Gavin and Michael had disappeared stood Ryan, looking a little stricken.

_Are they always like that?_ He asked passing a note to Jack.

“Oh usually, they get on like a house on fire, emphasis on the fire” Jack said, shaking her head “God help me I’d strangle them both if I didn’t love ‘em so much” she said fondly.

_Are they like this on jobs?_ The next note asked, and Jack took a moment to consider the question. They really weren’t like that on jobs, in fact, they were very well behaved on jobs when they needed to be, especially together.

“No, they’re not, the closest they get to this is if the other one is in trouble, or disappears off the comms, they start yelling into their headset to make sure the other’s okay, or to let them know someone’s on their ass. They really do love each other, even if they seem like they don’t” she said in answer as they walked into the kitchen, got their coffee, and sat down. Ryan nodded slightly.

_It’s good to know they give a shit about each other’s safety_ he said, sliding the notepad across the kitchen island for her to read.

“It is. They do a good job of keeping each other, and even Geoff and I, safe. It’s something I think we all have in this house, a desperation to make sure everyone’s okay, a willingness to get hurt, or even killed, to make sure the others make it out safe” Jack shrugged slightly “Mine’s so bad it bleeds into the every day, I mean, you’re here because of it”

Ryan sat in contemplative silence after Jack had said that, and she and Geoff sipped their coffees, listening to Gavin and Michael argue down in Gavin’s room about where the table should go (Gavin was adamant it be against the window because of the lighting so he could do his makeup, Michael wanted it by the wall in case an earth quake hit and his stupid table took the window out).

It was about as peaceful as their lives ever got, and frankly Jack was happy to have noise in the house again. She was already quite fond of Ryan, especially as his rye humor began seeping into his little written comments, and they were learning more about his personality, but Jack had always found silence unnerving, she’d grown up in a city with a younger brother and pets, it was never quiet in her house, and it was almost a habit to make sure there were sounds in the house. Being without Gavin and Michael and their near constant bickering and bantering had been unsettling to say the least, couple that with the fact that Ryan made very few sounds, hell his feet didn’t even make a noise on the hardwood floor, it had been a bizarre few days to say the least.

It was another ten minutes of quiet conversations, Ryan interjecting every so often with a note or a shrug when a question or comment was directed towards him, before the boys came into the kitchen. Michael was a bit red in the face, sweat standing out on his forehead, likely because Gavin had been making him drag the table around the room to position it, Gavin, however, looked unfazed by all of it, if slightly sweaty around the temples.

“Morning all!” Gavin said happily, striding to the coffee maker and pouring himself a cup “Do you want a coffee Boi?” he asked, turning to look over at Michael, hand hovering over the handle to the cabinet where there mugs were. Michael shook his head and went to the fridge, pulling out a water pitcher.

“I just dragged that stupid table around Gav I’m way too fucking hot to even wanna think about coffee” he said, exasperated.

“I suppose, but you were right about where to put it Michael-Boi, it does look better against the wall” he said, trying to appease Michael.

“It had fucking better cause I ain’t movin it again, and don’t even bother askin me to cause I won’t do it” Michael shot back, pouring himself a glass of water.

“I won’t Michael” Gavin said quickly “But maybe you could help me put some lights up on it? So that the lighting’s better? You’re good with electrical stuff, I’d just fry myself” he continued, appealing to Michael with compliments.

“Yeah maybe, but not this weekend, we can do it next week or somethin, unless we’ve got anything on next week?” Michael said, directing his gaze to Jack and Geoff.

“Well there’s not plans as of yet, figured we’d get used to our new area first before we start fuckin it up” Geoff said, shrugging “You know, learn the banks people frequent, shit like that” he said “Unless you had any ideas”

“I don’t have any” Michael said, shrugging a bit “But I gotta say I’m gettin bored” he said simply. Jack glanced over at Geoff, a single ginger eyebrow lifted in a look of concern. A bored Michael was no one’s favourite Michael. He was more likely to go nuts in the house if he was bored, sometimes that was a good thing and he’d tornado clean the whole apartment grumbling curses and insults as he went, and sometimes it meant he took off with Gavin in his car to blow something up wherever he saw fit to.

“We’ll come up with something” Geoff said simply, directing it at Michael “Why don’t you and Gav look into casing some spots out this way once we get all the boxes unloaded.”

“Yeah, okay, sounds good” he said, his voice non-comital, but Jack could see the fire of excitement in his eyes.

“Every single box and piece of furniture needs to be out of the truck and the rental van before you even think about it Michael Vincent” she said firmly, hands on hips, having seen the gears turning already.

“Fiiine” He said, drawing the word out, crossing his arms over his chest “But we can go after right?” he asked.

“Yes, you can go after” she said, rolling her eyes.

“Could we bring Ryan?” Gavin piped up from where he stood by the counter, coffee in hand.

“If Ryan wants to” Jack said, softening her words and directing a look over at Ryan. He bent his head over his notepad and wrote something quickly.

_I know this area pretty well, I wouldn’t mind helping_ the note said, and Jack read it aloud to Gavin, who grinned and nearly spilled his coffee all down his front at the excited little hop he couldn’t contain.

“Do you know sign language at all Ryan?” Gavin asked, coming over to the table to stand by Ryan.

_Yes_ said the next note.

“ASL or BSL?” he asked, voice full of curiosity.

_ASL mostly_ Ryan replied, and Gavin nodded thoughtfully.  
“I think they’re functionally the same” he said after a moment “Some things might be a bit off from each other, but if you don’t want to write all the time I could translate for you” he said.

“You know sign language Gavver?” Geoff asked, looking confused, Jack felt the same, they had had Gavin for over two years, how had they not known?

“Yeah, my ex-boss’ middle daughter was born deaf, so when I started hanging around with her and her older sister I decided to learn so she didn’t have to read my lips all the time” he shrugged a bit, looking a little uncomfortable. He had mentioned those girls only once or twice to Jack, his boss’ older daughter was the reason he’d left, she’d been killed by a rival gang in a negotiation, and Gavin was terrified if the boss found out he couldn’t bargain her back he’d have been next.

“Well, it’ll certainly be easier than needing to stop everything to read a note” Geoff said charitably, and Ryan nodded slightly, he turned to Gavin and signed something, brows pulled together slightly, as if testing his knowledge.

“Ryan you know where the Diet Coke is, I dunno why you need to ask me to get you one” Gavin said, rolling his eyes playfully and Ryan broke out in a grin knowing that Gavin really could understand him, and grinned wider when Gavin walked to the fridge and got the requested can of pop, Ryan signed what Jack assumed was a thank you, and popped the tab on the can.

“Well, that’ll make things easier” she said, finishing off her coffee “Maybe we should all learn” she smiled at Ryan, reaching over to give his arm a squeeze “It’d be good for us, might help on jobs where we can’t use comms too” she smiled and stood from the island then, stretching her arms up and letting out a short sigh. “Alrighty than, day’s not getting any longer, so we better go unload our shit before the rental company charges us for another day with that van.”

-

It only took about an hour to get everything unloaded and up into the penthouse, and her boys took off, tugging Ryan behind them out of the penthouse and down to the garage to take him along on who knew what kind of ridiculous casings.

Unfortunately her boys had never really learned the art of subtlety that she and Geoff had prized in their early days, they were, at least, conscious enough of their surroundings to keep their faces out of view. At least, usually. She did hope that Ryan had enough sense about him to keep the younger two in check.

And from what she heard when they got home, he’d done an excellent job of it.

Gavin and Michael came bounding back into the penthouse two or so hours later, catching Geoff and Jack in the middle of unpacking the library boxes and putting up photos on the mantle and books on the shelves.

“Ryan was great!” Gavin said excitedly as the two burst through the door, Ryan a bit behind them, looking a little haggard, but still smiling genuinely “He knew everywhere that’d be good for a job! Everywhere we went he could point out some spot or another where we could do something!”

“Yeah! And we stopped to hold up a gas station! It was fucking awesome!” Michael said excitedly, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“You stopped to do _what now?_ ” Geoff asked, almost startled.

“Yeah, we stopped to hold up a gas station a few blocks away!” Gavin said, grinning “Don’t worry though, no one knew it was us, Michael keeps ski masks in his glove box, and Ryan even put on a mask like the Vagabond’s to hide his face! It was amazing!” he said, breathless, Ryan stood just behind the two excited boys, looking a little flustered and maybe a bit bashful, his skull mask pushed up on his forehead.

_Should I not have done that?_ He asked, sidling up to Jack with a note.

“No, it’s alright” she said gently, placing a hand on his arm “They would have done it anyway, no harm in holding up a gas station as long as you’re careful about your faces.” She said “And no one gets hurt” she said, directing her gaze to Michael and Gavin.

“No one got hurt, promise” Gavin said quickly.

“I mean I may have knocked into someone while we were leaving, but no one got like, _seriously_ hurt” Michael said. Jack rolled her eyes a bit, smiling.

“As long as it was just the register and no one was hurt” she said, smiling. It was basically impossible to keep her boys in line, so the smaller the job to keep them sane the better. “So how’d it go” she asked, wiping sweat from her brow, it’d gotten hot in the library while she and Geoff had been unpacking the books and organizing shelves, and even in her airy Hawaiian shirt and shorts it was oppressively stuffy.

“It was so good!” Gavin said excitedly “Ryan went in first with the skull mask on and scared the shit out of the clerk! He looked like he’d seen a ghost! And then Michael and I followed him and the clerk didn’t even need to see a weapon, he just popped the register and started handing out money to us!” Gavin was practically bouncing with excitement “It was the best thing I’d ever seen, Ryan didn’t even have a gun on him and he took over! It was great!”

Ryan rubbed the back of his neck, smiling a bit, and jotted something down, handing the note to Jack.

_It was nice to be the Vagabond again_ the first part of the note said, and Jack smiled _It felt like coming home to something_ it said just underneath. Jack looked up at him and smiled wide.

“Did you not tell them?” she asked, remembering how Gavin had mentioned a mask _like_ the Vagabond’s.

“Tell us what?” Michael asked, sounding suspicious.

“Yeah, what?” Gavin echoed. Ryan signed something quickly and Gavin watched his hands intently, mouth dropping open as he registered what Ryan was saying.

“Really?” he asked, awed.

“Really what Gav?” Michael asked eagerly, unable to understand the signs.

“He’s really the Vagabond” Gavin said in a hushed voice, sounding utterly floored.

“The real fucking Vagabond?” Michael echoed, his question just as awe-stricken.

“He is” Jack said, smiling, she found it incredible just how excited her boys sounded about finding out the Vagabond was still alive. She completely understood the feeling, because she had also thought he was dead, until she picked him up on the side of the road and started picking up his pieces. And she was glad that he was already doing so well, it’d been barely a week and already he had warmed up to her and Geoff quite quickly, and even faster with Michael and Gavin, considering he had only met them that morning and already he was holding up gas stations just for fun with them.

Ryan rubbed at the back of his neck, looking a little awkward at the sheer amount of excitement the boys got from learning who he was. He signed something to Gavin, not looking at him properly, apparently embarrassed.

“What d’you mean it’s not a big deal? It is! Michael and I have read every news story about you!”

“Yeah, you’re like, a fucking role model dude!” Michael chimed in “Like that time you blew up that old warehouse as cover for something else! That was fucking wicked!”

Ryan looked to Jack, his eyes asking for help, and she just laughed, she knew there was no stopping those two once they were started.

“And we’ve heard so many stories about your hits!” Gavin kept going “Jack even told us that she and Geoff were thinking of hiring you before you went off the grid, , but they ended up having to postpone the hit because they couldn’t get to him well enough” Gavin paused “I did it at a party because you had gone, slipped the guy a poisoned drink, not very sophisticated I guess, but it got the job done, and I’d done it before so it wasn’t hard” he said, shrugging slightly “I mean, nowhere near as cool as anything you could’ve done”

Ryan looked confused at Gavin’s story, and scribbled something down quickly.

_It was you guys that contacted me last?_ He asked, clearly surprised.

“Yeah, Geoff and I needed to get a guy out of the way, we called you, and set up a meeting, but you never showed up” she said simply “We thought something had come up for you, or maybe you didn’t want to take the job, but then we found out that no one else could get a hold of you either, so we wondered if maybe something bad had happened, and when no one saw anything from the Vagabond in the news or through the underworld grape vine we just kind of assumed you had died” she said, shrugging slightly “It’s not uncommon for hit men to go missing in this city, especially someone as prolific as the Vagabond, so we left it there and had Gavin do the hit at some high society party at one of those mansions just outside of town, I think it was the guy’s wife’s birthday or something, we didn’t really care to look into it” she said “And if you can pry all the excess bling off of him Gavin can look like a somewhat respectable upper class kid.”

“I _am_ a respectable upper class kid” Gavin retorted, smiling “It’s just more fun to not act like I am”

“Alright, yeah, your family’s very respectable and wealthy, but you’re a fucking professional criminal Gav” Michael said, rolling his eyes.

“A professional criminal who went to public school” Gavin shot back.

“Yeah, and so the fuck did I” Michael said, shoving Gavin’s shoulder “Most people do”

“Michael-Boi public school in England is way different than yours was, it’s _our_ private school, you know that” Gavin said, smiling patiently at having to remind Michael of this.

“Shut up” Michael said, exasperated. Gavin looked over at Ryan and grinned.

“That means I’m right and he doesn’t want to admit it” he said slyly.

“It means if you keep it up you’ll get your ass beat” Michael retorted, snorting out a laugh.

“Alright boys, that’s enough” Jack said before Michael could make good on his threat “Can you help us get the rest of these boxes unpacked and put all these books away please?” she asked, and the three of them nodded, and moved to help.

-

It took a very long time for them to get fully settled into the new house, and give them enough time to plan any work, but once they were settled in and the penthouse was unpacked and everything was organized and put together how they had each wanted it to be, there was no stopping Geoff’s planning train.

Geoff was unstoppable when he got something into his brain, and it was that singlemindedness that Jack admired almost to a fault, his planning was thorough and well thought out, he had as many escape routes as he could possibly think they could use for contingency.

But for this particular heist, at first, his planning wasn’t quite as thorough as he usually was, because he left Ryan out. It hadn’t been out of malice, or disregard for Ryan’s skills, but in particular regard for Ryan’s trauma, they hadn’t spoken about including Ryan in their work yet, not even to Ryan, because they wanted to give him some time to heal, and while it had been a few months since they had taken him in he still wouldn’t speak, and they didn’t want to put anymore pressure on him in a situation that might force him to speak out. They were a larger crew now, and they took on bigger jobs, so they tended to use in-ear comms to communicate with the others when they were out of sight, just as a precaution, and if Ryan couldn’t bring himself to speak they didn’t want to force him into a position that seemingly required his speech just to be a part of the team.

But when he found out that Geoff had tentatively excluded him from the job he had confronted them about it, not in anger, but in genuine confusion.

_You could use me_ his note had said, it was simple, stated plainly, because he knew they could, his skillset was vast, and he had the kind of fierce avenging force that came with his deep loyalty and trust to their crew, they could use him, he was an asset that they couldn’t even begin to imagine the vastness of.

“The thing is, we don’t want to _use_ you Ry, we want you to be in it because you want to be” Jack had replied, because that was truly how they felt, they had never forced each other into jobs, had never made someone participate because they were of _use_ , they wanted their boys involved because _they_ wanted to be involved.

_Well what if I do want to help?_ He’d asked, all six and a half feet of him looking like a child challenging his parents.

“Then we can put you in easily enough” Geoff had replied simply “We’ve got enough wiggle room to fit you in if you really want to take part” he said.

_I do_ his next note said simply, and while his face was set Jack could see a note of nervousness in his eyes.

“This is a comm job” she said, just so he knew “We’ll patch you into the comms, but you don’t need to use them yourself, it’s just better if you know when we’re all in position and you can hear what we’re saying” she said, Ryan nodded simply, mouth set in a hard line.

_I want to help._ He replied simply, and Jack could tell from the set of his features that he would not be left out.

“Then we’ll work you in” she said simply, happy to give in if he truly wanted to help “Is there any specific role you’d want to play? Michael and Gavin are on crowd control, and Geoff and I are bagging cash, do you want to do either of those, or something else?” she asked.

_Sniping._ The note was simple, and somehow it caught Jack off guard, though it shouldn’t have, she knew that one of the things the Vagabond had been known for was his sniping skills as well as his close combat.

“If that’s what you want to do” Geoff said simply, shrugging slightly “I’m sure we can use a sniper, this is gonna be a pretty big job.”

_Alright, good_ the note said, and Jack and Geoff simply nodded, they were happy to add Ryan in, but it did come as almost a surprise that he really wanted to take part in a bigger job, after everything that had happened to him they hadn’t been sure. Of course, he seemed to love pulling little jobs with Michael and Gavin, but bigger jobs with more at stake were questionable at best.

But they were happy to know that Ryan really was in it with them for the long haul.

-

Their first job with Ryan turned out to be a major success. It wasn’t an excessively difficult job, but they were in an unfamiliar area, and while they had done their best to plan routes in and out, having Ryan provide cover for them was an added bit of peace of mind for Jack and Geoff. The hardest part was simply the situation with the comms.

When they had branched out to include Michael they had decided to start using in ear comms so they could communicate easier between teams, because typically Michael and Gavin would team up together, and Jack and Geoff would team with each other, it was ideal because each team knew how their other half worked, how they moved and acted on a job, and by using comms it allowed both teams to know where the others were and what they were doing, it just made their lives easier.

But they had only had four, they didn’t know when they’d bought them that they’d ever grow again, so they hadn’t thought, and tracking down another set for Ryan was annoying at best, he had tried to tell them he didn’t need one, he’d be up above them with a scope on a tall building across from the bank so there would be no point in patching him in, but if things below went south he’d need to know what was happening inside, or if they’d need to split up and meet back up later at a different place than their original meeting place. He had only agreed if they let him fit the comm to the inside of his mask so he could ditch it if he had to, he didn’t expand one why he might have to, and Jack could admit that she was glad he hadn’t.

But, despite all of that, the arguments about comms, trying to fit Ryan into the plan and decide where his perch would be, it went well.

And Ryan spoke.

The job plans were simple, they’d enter two at a time, first Michael and Gavin, they’d get control of the crowd, move tellers away from tills so they couldn’t touch their panic buttons, and once under control they were to call Jack and Geoff in, and they would keep the crowd out of the way, and Jack and Geoff would grab the money, pretty simple. Ryan was cover, he was Plan B if the cops showed up before they could get out, and he was happy to be contingency if need be.

And there was need.

Jack and Geoff hadn’t been able to hear the sirens from back in the vault, and by the time Michael was yelling through the comms that it was time to go there were already cop cars pulling up outside. It wasn’t the first time they’d had to deal with things like this, it wasn’t necessarily common for the cops to show up on jobs, they were usually quite safe, but of course they couldn’t control every possible outcome of a job, and the cops were no different than one of them falling trying to get out, or having to deal with a belligerent civilian, it was a risk they took with the work they did, and they knew how to calculate the risks versus the rewards, and if they knew for a fact the risk was too high they’d avoid the job, simple as that, and if they believed the reward worth it they were always happy to take the risk.

The problem was that the bank was in rather a nice area, cops were liable to show up faster if they were called, which meant that there would be more to contend with, once one car was on the scene, at least three or four more were soon to follow, so with one car already outside, sirens blaring, they only had a small window to get out safely and with as little risk of in casualty as possible.

The four of them left the building as quickly as possible, Jack and Geoff through a side door near the vault, just in behind the tills, and Gavin and Michael who were better equipped with body armour, went out the front doors, guns raised, ready to shoot on sight if necessary. By the time Jack and Geoff had come back around to the front of the building, Michael and Gavin were back to back across the street from them, just a short way off from their car, which still had a clear line of flight if only they could just make it to the cars, but they were getting swarmed, in the time Jack and Geoff had been around the side three more cars had pulled up, and they could still hear sirens coming. She chanced a look at Geoff, glanced back out at the street, and pulled her pistol from the back of her jeans, rubbed her thumb lightly over the silky-smooth pearl handle for reassurance, and looked back at Geoff.

“I love you” she said quickly, just in case.

“I love you too” he replied, fire in his eyes, and they took off into the street.

They split off from each other, it was easier in a situation like this where they were coming out into the line of fire from that somewhat hidden position, they could move through the gathering crowd easier, and it was easier for them to have the other’s back if there was some separation between them, too close and they were both too worried about each other to shoot.

Jack had a relatively clear shot to her and Geoff’s get away car, there were only two or three officers in front of her and she was clear, she’d get the car in motion and pick up Geoff from where he stood amidst several cops, taking them down as fast as he could shoot. That worried her, he was outnumbered four to one where he’d ended up, and he was only one man. Jack sent a quick glance to her right, away from Geoff, and caught sight of blond hair bright in the sun as Gavin’s head ducked into his and Michael’s car and they sped off.

Two out, they could do this.

Jack focused back in on her own path to the car and got her gun up just in time to shoot an approaching officer in his shoulder, the impact knocked his gun out of his hands and sent him spinning, he’d been close, and the bullet had hit hard right in the middle of his shoulder.

It was a clean shot, he’d be fine. Well, he might lose some mobility in the shoulder she’d shot, but he’d live.

She ran past the officer where he’d fallen to his knees and managed to reach her car without another close call. She was about to get in the driver’s seat when she glanced over at Geoff to mark out a path to pick him up and take off.

Geoff was being swarmed.

Somehow, while Jack hadn’t been looking, he had gotten up on the hood of a cop car and was raining bullets down on anyone who got too close to him. They had him at a stalemate, he was surrounded on all sides, but had a pretty heavy-duty gun, and a full clip in his pistol besides.

It was either die or get arrested after exhausting his ammo.

And Jack knew him to well to think he’d ever let them take him alive.

She stood, frozen, trying to figure out a plan of action.

And then the first officer hit the ground, swiftly followed by a second that Geoff hadn’t been facing.

Ryan.

She’d forgotten all about him, and he had bided his time till just the right moment to strike.

Jack watched as officers around Geoff started to drop left and right, saw the fire in her love’s eyes as he realized what was going on, the smirk that crept across his lips. He hopped down in the clear path Ryan had picked for him and sprinted towards Jack. She moved forward without a second thought, wanting to give Ryan a hand on keeping Geoff’s tail clear before they got in the car.

She was so focused on keeping Geoff alive that she didn’t register the pounding footsteps behind her.

But she did register an unfamiliar voice over the comms.

“Jack, behind you!” It said urgently, the voice raspy and harsh from disuse, more of a rumble than a real human voice, and without hesitation she whipped around in time to smash the butt of her pistol hard across the face of an approaching cop and knock him to the ground. He didn’t move once he hit the asphalt, but for good measure Jack braced and shot his calf, preventing him from even thinking of getting back up.

She was about to turn around again when she felt familiar hands on her hips.

“Time to go babe” Geoff said in her ear, and she could hear the smile in his voice.

“Get your hands off me and get in the car you big idiot” she replied, smiling herself.  Geoff laughed and ran around to the passenger’s side and threw himself in. Jack got into the driver’s seat, threw the car in gear, and sped away from the scene as fast as she could.

“We’re all clear Vagabond, meet us back home” she said into her comm, keeping eyes behind her to make sure they didn’t have a tail.

“See you there” the raspy, unfamiliar voice said, clearer this time than before.

“Mogar, Prince, what’s your ETA?” Geoff asked beside her, grip tight on the pistol he held in his lap.

“Less than ten minutes from home” Michael replied “You two all good?”

“Yeah, I think so” Jack said “If anyone needs to get patched up I’ll deal with it once we’re all home, unless it’s 911 urgent” she said, glancing over at Geoff. He smiled at her and reached over, taking her hand across the center console and giving it a tight squeeze.

“Good work today boys, we’ll see you at home” he said, and she watched him reach up to shut off his comm, and she quickly did the same, slipping it out of her ear and into her lap, and turned towards home.

-

They made it home without any incident, and, irrationally, Jack was feeling anxious. Geoff had seemed fine in the car, but other than Gavin’s head she hadn’t seen him and Michael since the two had exited the building, and she hadn’t seen Ryan at all since they had left the penthouse, he’d taken a motorbike out by himself to set up his perch inconspicuously, and because she hadn’t had eyes on them during their escape she was anxious to assure that they were all okay.

In the elevator up to the penthouse she leaned back against the wall, blowing out a long breath, Geoff reached out, gently slid his fingers into her hair, stroking his thumb along her temple, and kissed her head, giving her the exact grounding she needed.

“Everything’s fine babe” he said reassuringly “The boys would have let you know if they were really hurt, and Ryan wasn’t even in the line of fire” he said, his voice smooth.

“You’d tell me if you were hurt too, right?” she asked, looking up at him, finding those sleepy blue eyes she loved directed at her with concern.

“Of course I would baby, you know I would” he said, kissing her forehead softly “I promise I’m alright, maybe a few bruises and cuts here and there, but I’m not gonna bleed out” he said, pulling her into a tight hug, she nodded slightly and hugged him back. Something about having seen him swarmed like that, up on that cop car surrounded like he had been had shaken her up more than a usual cop interference would.

 The elevator dinged their floor and they pulled apart, walking to their door hand in hand.

Inside they found Michael and Gavin, curled up next to each other on the couch, Gavin had a rag pressed to his eyebrow and was casually scrolling on his phone, and Michael’s lip was split down the middle, but he seemed unbothered, already cleaning his pistol, and other than that they looked alright.

“You guys alright?” Jack asked, and both of their heads whipped up from what they were doing.

“Mostly” Michael said “Somebody shot the back of my body armour, I think my back got bruised pretty bad, so I might get you to check that” he said, shrugging slightly “I think Gav’s brow needs some stitches, I cleaned it out when we got home, we were just waiting for the bleeding to stop and for you guys to get in so you could double check” Jack nodded slightly, walking quickly towards them without bothering to toe off her shoes.

“Alright, let’s have a look than Michael” she said, and when he didn’t immediately move she started tapping her foot impatiently “Up, Michael Vincent” she said again, and Michael put down his pistol reluctantly, and stood, pulling his shirt up over his head. Jack examined his back, poking and prodding around an already bruising area just about the base of his spine, he winced slightly, but otherwise showed no signs of extreme pain.

“You’re damn lucky Michael” she said as she let him pull his shirt back on “If you hadn’t had armour on you could’ve destroyed your back” she said, hands on hips. Michael shrugged slightly.

“I knew I was fine” he said, rolling his eyes “I’ve had some pretty brutal surgery Jack, I know what scary pain feels like” he said, gesturing vaguely to his chest “It hit my vest, I just wanted to make sure I didn’t need to like bind it or whatever like when Gav bruised his ribs” Jack was about to say something when Geoff interrupted her scolding with a question.

“Did you two see Ryan?” he asked, looking around the living room.

“Oh yeah, he got back and went to check first aid stuff when he saw Gav’s eyebrow, he ran out to go get some more stitches, he told Gav we were running low and he knows a guy” Michael said, shrugging.

“He didn’t _say_ anything, did he?” Jack asked curiously.

“He signed to Gav that he was going out, but that’s pretty usual, why d’you ask?”

“Wait, Michael, remember that voice on the comms?” Gavin said slowly, cocking his head to the side.

“Yeah?”

“Clearly that was Ryan, Michael” Gavin said, smacking a hand to his face “We thought someone had patched into our comms!”

“Gavin don’t do that, idiot, you’re gonna spilt your eyebrow again” Michael said, sounding somewhat alarmed “It just stopped bleeding!”

“That’s not important Michael! Ryan _talked_ to us today! Like with his _voice_ , Boi! He actually said _words_ with his _mouth_!” Gavin said excitedly.

“Words don’t come from your mouth you fuckin dumbass, they come from your throat” Michael said, rolling his eyes.

“That is literally the least important thing right now Michael!” Gavin said excitedly.

“You can’t just freak out about it Gavin, you’ll scare him when he comes back!” Michael argued “If he feels like he’s okay to talk to us you don’t wanna make a bigass deal of it and scare him outta talking again!” he said, Gavin considered this for a moment, and nodded slightly.

“Alright, that’s enough than” Jack said, shaking her head at them “Whatever else we aren’t going to make a big deal out of him speaking today, if he starts talking more than that’s great, and if not, that’s not a disappointment, we knew when he started that he has issues with speech, and that doesn’t make him any less or anymore valuable to us than he would be otherwise. First and foremost Ryan is our friend, he is not an asset, he is not a weapon, he is our friend, and a good one at that, he saved my life today” she said, hands on her hips.

“You really mean that?” a voice asked behind her, and she turned to find Ryan standing just inside the open front door, looking shocked, in all the fuss none of them had heard the door open, and Ryan must have overheard the end of their conversation. Jack smiled and let out a slightly awkward laugh at being caught out talking about him.

“Of course we do Ryan” she said, smiling “I mean, first of all, you really did save my life today, and second of all, this crew is like a family, it’s always been like that and it always will be, no matter who joins, or what they can do, or where they’ve come from, we were all in less than ideal places before, but now, with this crew, I can say personally that my life has never been better, and I gotta say, it’s all the better with you along for the ride too” she said, it was tru, this crew was a family, it was a home, and wherever it was, and whoever was in it, as long as she and Geoff were around it would always be a family.

She watched Ryan swallow hard and reach up to try and rake his fingers through his hair before he realized it was still pulled back away from his face in a ponytail, he let his hand fall back to his side, and nodded slightly, clearly at a loss for words.

“That” he started, and had to pause to clear his throat, trying to loosen up the rusty feeling he still had from the lack of use “That means a lot” he said finally, clearly unsure of how to process everything.

“Well, I’m glad” She said, smiling.

“This crew is the only good thing I’ve ever done with my life, so it’s good to hear you’re as on board with the fuckery as the rest of us” Geoff said lightly, walking over to Ryan and laying a hand on his shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze. Ryan nodded slightly and cleared his throat again.

“I uh, I got more sutures” he said finally, clearly wanting to end the sentimental moment. Jack laughed and shook her head.

“Thank you, Ryan, if you want to get the rest of the kit I think I need to sew Gavin up now before he does something to start his head bleeding again” she said, taking the hint. Ryan nodded and walked out of the main room, towards the bathroom to fetch the main stitching kit from under the sink. Jack turned back to her other boys, hands on her hips, and ignored the awed looks on their faces.

“Alright Gav, let’s get you checked out than, make sure you haven’t got a concussion to go along with that cut” she said, Gavin nodded slightly, and Jack happily went into nurse mode to make sure her boys were okay.

-

Slowly Ryan began to integrate his voice into their every day lives after that job. It took a lot of time before he was comfortable actually speaking at length in any context, and for a time he still relied heavily on signing and writing notes here and there, and then, eventually, his alternative methods started to peter out.

His voice stayed rough for a long time, he’d spent too many years barely using it, if at all, and his vocal chords had seemingly forgotten how to make a pure sound come out of his throat, but it didn’t bother any of them in the slightest.

The important thing was that he trusted them enough to speak at all.

Out of all of her boys Ryan kept the most things close to his chest, he held his past in a lock box in the back of his mind, and never wanted to speak about it, and Jack was alright with that; other than Dan Gavin barely spoke about his life before Los Santos, and aside from a passing reference to his brothers, or growing up, Michael rarely talked about New Jersey, but they did talk about their lives, themselves as people, the things they had done that they were ashamed of, that they were scared of. But Ryan kept his secrets close.

So it was something of a shock when he finally opened up to her about why his name had been so familiar.

Jack spent a lot of time out on their balcony at the penthouse, and by early spring, not quite April, but still growing warmer every day, she found herself spending more and more time there in the mornings, she enjoyed taking the time in the morning to have a sort of quiet meditation, think about the day ahead, and drink her tea before Michael and Gavin got up and started up their lovely raucousness for the day.

It was there that Ryan found her one morning late in March, watching the sun rise, it was early, not quite six am, but Jack hadn’t been able to sleep any longer, she’d just had a weird feeling about that morning that had driven her from her warm bed and Geoff’s arms wrapped tight around her.

So there she sat, wrapped up in her cozy floral bathrobe, and soft leggings, a pair of her matching Christmas pyjamas with her boys, with a mug of tea steaming away between her hands.

“You know, you should get Geoff to get a place outside town, you’re out here meeting the sun often enough” Ryan said behind her, he was slowly working the rust out of his voice but it was still scratchy in places and on certain words.

“Maybe some day” she said, smiling, and turned to look at him, he stood just inside the doorway, holding a steaming mug of coffee between his hands, still wearing his rumpled, mismatched pyjamas “What brings you out here this morning?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Couldn’t stay asleep” he said, shrugging “Still trying to acclimate to a real sleep schedule, I was nocturnal for a lotta years” he said, walking out to join Jack at the deck table, sitting down across from her with his mug.

“What’s on your mind Ry?” she asked, taking a careful sip of her tea, she was never one to pry with her boys, but this setup, a new boy sitting across from her in the soft early morning sunlight, wrapped up in their pyjamas, making pointed, joking, comments about Geoff and his household promises, that felt so viscerally the same to Gavin all that time ago, that scared, skinny, seventeen year old kid who just needed a home, and Jack could see a lot of the same things in Ryan. Across from her was a toweringly tall man with a brutal strength, long hair and mismatched eyes and a kill count well over double his age, but just behind all of that was a scared, skinny kid who just needed a home, needed people to give a shit for once.

And Jack was always happy to oblige.

She watched Ryan start to shrug, and then he swallowed hard, and cleared his throat.

“Just going over my life I guess” he said haltingly “How I got here, how far I’ve come to be here” he reached up and carded his fingers nervously through his hair “All the time I spent alone when I coulda been here” he shrugged slightly and ruffled his own hair, trying to clear his head, she thought.

There was a long pause before he spoke again, and this time his voice was a little stronger, and coloured with self-deprecation.

“You know my first kill was my step-dad?” he asked, almost casually, and when Jack didn’t respond right away he let out an awkward, rust coated chuckle, and shook his head “Yeah, I know, bit of a cliché, huh? But I can assure you he had it coming” he paused and cleared his throat again, clearly not quite sure how to continue.

“Growing up I was James, James Haywood” he said “My parents split up when I was pretty young, and not long after she got involved with the guy who would become my step-dad. He was pretty nice at first, treated my mom well, and he had kids of his own, so I thought he’d be alright, but he wasn’t” he shrugged slightly, shaking his head “To put it frankly, that asshole put the fear of fuckin God in me, and I slept with a knife under my pillow for the next eight years I lived there, I got out the second I could and went to university” he smiled slightly “Got a degree in theatre of all things, and then when I was done, I went back to Georgia to say goodbye to my mom and pick up a couple things I’d had to leave behind” there was a long pause again as Ryan tried to collect his thoughts.

James Haywood. That name rang a bell in Jack’s mind.

“Turns out that fuckin psycho decided to take things a bit too far, suffice it to say I didn’t get to say goodbye to my mother” he sighed heavily “I couldn’t let him get away with that kinda shit, so I put that knife to use, took my things, and took off, I was something like twenty-two, and I was a fugitive. I came here and figured shit out, I’m from Georgia, I knew how to shoot a gun, so why not make use of that” he shrugged slightly “The rest is history I guess. I gotta say though, it’s nice to feel like I’ve got a home again, it’s been six years since I left Georgia, and it feels pretty fuckin good to have a home” he sighed, shaking his head slightly “I’ve just been thinking about all that a lot recently, my life coulda turned out a hell of a lot different, and I’m not sure if I’d rather it be or not”

“What the hell were you gonna do with a theater degree?” Jack asked teasingly, turning around the rest of his story in her mind, finally connecting why his name was familiar. She had been something like twenty-three at the time, and she and Geoff were newly working together, they always watched the news, every night, just in case, it’d been a big story that week, James Haywood, wanted for the murder of his mother and step-father, believed to be armed and dangerous, they had flashed his face across the screen, his face was slimmer then, blond hair cropped close above his ears, but his eyes were the same, one a deep, gold-flecked green, the other a bright almost unnatural cerulean blue, she remember making a comment to Geoff about how odd it was for a kid that young and gentle looking to have done something like that, and Geoff had replied that even young, gentle looking kids could be pushed to a breaking point, and now she knew why.

“Thought about teaching for awhile, then I went rogue and that went down the drain pretty fucking quick” he said, shrugging slightly “I’d always wanted to teach growing up, but I guess it wasn’t meant to be” he said, but he didn’t sound sad about it. “It’s taken a lot of years for me to accept that, it took being here with you all to do it I think, maybe I’m more cut out for this life than I thought before”

“Well, you know I didn’t start out in this, right?” Jack asked, and she watched Ryan’s brow furrow in confusion.

“I – No, I didn’t” he said, pausing to clear his throat in the middle as his voice broke slightly.

“Yeah, I’m a certified RN actually, and I worked at the LS General ER downtown for a few years before I started working with Geoff” she said.

“You just seem so comfortable in all of this” Ryan said slowly, looking almost frustrated when his voice came out broken again, still clearly unused to being used this much.

“Well, I’ve been working with Geoff for almost four years now, not quite, our work anniversary is in late November, so I’d expect I’d seem pretty comfortable here, but I wasn’t always, in fact for the first year or so I worked with Geoff I was constantly paranoid that we’d get caught, constantly scared for his safety, but after awhile I got used to it, but I never thought I’d end up here” she said, looking out over the balcony, out to the ocean, the view Geoff had always promised her. “But it feels right here, I loved working as a nurse, but I feel like this is more my calling, and hey, being a nurse definitely came in handy working like this” she said, grinning “Sometimes we don’t follow the paths we think we’re supposed to, and that’s okay, because the world, fate, whatever, she’s always got a backup plan for you, and usually she’s a lot more right about your backup plan than you are about what you want to get out of life as a kid” she said “I mean no one grows up wanting to be a career criminal, but here we are, and I gotta say, I’m happier here than I ever have been before”

“I guess you’re right” he said slowly, mulling it over.

They sat in silence for a long time after, drinking their drinks, and watching as the sun climbed higher in the sky, Jack checked the news on her phone, and eventually the companionable silence was broken by a loud crash inside followed by Michael’s voice yelling, and the calm spell of the morning was over. She glanced over at Ryan and they both laughed and went inside to try and stop the chaos before it could get too out of hand.

-

By the end of April Ryan was finally speaking on a normal level with the rest of the crew, and he seemed to feel accomplished that he could do that. He’d spent so much of his life mostly silent that finding his voice after all of that had been a challenge, but now, it was normal, his voice was still a little rustier than was typical on occasion, but for the most part his voice was clear and deep and it only really broke when he laughed too hard, and Jack couldn’t have been more proud of him, he had come so far in only a few months, and he was doing better than he likely ever had.

Jack prided herself in helping her boys come into their own and becoming the people they were meant to be, and watching Ryan – known for his work as the Vagabond, a man to be feared, to cower away from, a face behind a skull mask that people saw and knew it’d likely be the last face they’d ever see – become slowly more and more of a real person, more and more of a ridiculous man who worked hard and played harder, who could hold his own in an argument with Gavin and Michael, who happily sat with Jack and Geoff in the library, reading for hours on end.

But it was one simple thing that really clinched for Jack that Ryan was going to be okay, and that he was really doing well.

Geoff had taken Michael and Gavin with him to a job, they were meeting up with some gun runners down by the docks to pick up some of their stock, and in a completely opposite domestic job Jack had decided to take the time while the penthouse was basically empty to get out and pick up some groceries with the assurance that the penthouse would still be standing by the time she got home.

As she was getting ready to leave Ryan emerged from his room, dressed comfortably in plain jeans and a t-shirt, looking for all the world like a completely normal person despite everything about him, even how ridiculously tall he was, and looking somewhat bashful.

“I know you were gonna go by yourself” he started, indicating the reusable bags Jack had tucked under her arm “But do you mind if I tag along?”

“Yeah, sure Ryan, it’s no problem, it usually goes faster with two people anyway” she said, smiling “And I do like the company”

“Do you think we could stop at a garden center on the way in?” he asked slowly “My room’s pretty bare, and I thought it might be nice to put something in the planter box on my windowsill” he said, sounding awkward, rubbing at his neck and avoiding her eyes. Jack grinned and laughed slightly, shaking her head.

“I think we can make that happen” she said brightly “I was thinking about planting mine and Geoff’s too, maybe you can recommend me something” she said, Ryan nodded slightly, matching her grin with a small smile of his own. “I think we could use some plants in the house, might make it feel more homey” Ryan laughed slightly, shaking his head.

“I don’t think it’s possible to make this place feel more homey, but I’d like to see you try” he replied as they walked out the door and to the elevator.

“Oh just watch me” Jack said, grinning, and they both laughed all the way down to the ground floor. 


End file.
